HetaOni: A Repeating Cycle
by Poison1234
Summary: A repeating cycle, full of sorrow and suffering and death and red, bloody red! It never ends, never ends... Rated T for violence and descriptive swearing.
1. The ManSion Where None Should ENter pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters that are involved. I also do not own HetaOni or the game it was based on, AoOni. **

**A/N: Hello everyone! *Waves* Poison1234 here at your disposal! **

**Now, before we begin this story, I'd like to point out a few things. Firstly, the only character I own would be the OC that will be appearing. Other than that, everything should be the same. Secondly, once this story gets to Chapter 17, I'll be stopping because who knows when the game will continue? Cause I sure don't! I really hope it does though….**

**I **_**might**_** make a sequel if I feel up to it, though I can't guarantee anything. If procrastinating was a sport, I would have won several gold medals. **

**On a side note, I downloaded the English version by Pianodream and Neo-Kyno. It's really fun, though there was this one part, I'm not naming names. I was walking as Italy, minding my own business and then the thing came out of nowhere. Now, me being me, I looked up a walkthrough before and watched the let's plays and I knew it was coming. But it still scared the crap out of me! Oh dear God…. I could feel my heart pounding afterwards and I had let out this dying cat noise as I ran quickly to the bathroom. My dad walked in as I was freaking out and asked me what was wrong. **

**This game is awesome, but now I can't walk around my house at night without thinking that it'll jump me. That's the part that really sucks. I usually steal snacks from my kitchen cabinet… Wait, who said that?! You didn't hear any of that, okay? Good.**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan felt a sad smile appear on his face as he watched Prussia and Germany bicker.

"Ve~ Japan? Is something wrong?" Japan jumped before looking over to Italy, the other nation wearing a confused expression.

Japan shook his head. "No, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Italy pouted. Noticing his expression, Japan raised his hands and once again told him that he didn't need to worry.

"Please Japan~?! I want to know why Japan is upset," Italy said. He grabbed onto Japan's arm looking up at him with large shiny eyes.

Japan blinked. _"Is it that obvious?" _

"I," he sighed, "I suppose I envy those two." He looked back over to the bickering brothers.

"Why? Why do you envy them," Italy asked, his head tilting curiously.

"They have a bond. A bond that is healthy and happy. Not like the one my own brothers and I share."

"Like who?" At this, Japan looked back to the Italian.

"The ones that I have…. Problems with," he replied, adjusting his backpack.

"Ve~…. One of them is China, right?" After a short silence, Japan nodded.

"Well, look at those two!" Japan looked. Germany and Prussia were still fighting, though now Germany had Prussia in a headlock and the older was laughing as he attempted to escape his younger brother's grasp.

"Brothers fight all the time; Germany and Prussia, the Nordic brothers, even my _fratello _and I," Italy continued. "We may fight all the time, but we still care for each other, you know?" Japan slowly nodded.

"Well, you still care for the other, even though you had your fights in the past! I bet China feels the same way!" Japan stared before sighing once more. Italy tilted his head again.

"What's wrong now?" Japan looked away. Italy seemed to understand because he grasped both of the Asian's hands in his own.

"I doubt Pakistan is mad at you either," he said seriously. Japan looked up into the other's eyes. Italy smiled.

"If anything, she cares about China too and just wants him to be happy. You're his little brother Japan, he took care of you, raised you to be who you are today. Pakistan knows this and she probably wants you to come home too." Japan stared as Italy continued to smile.

"Oi!" The two looked up to Prussia who was waving at them.

"Ve~! We're coming!" Italy let go, running past all the pedestrians. Japan watched before smiling. _"Looks like Italy-kun's growing up." _

"Come on Japan!"

"H-Hai!" The Asian nation hurried to catch up with his friends.

"I can't wait," Prussia was saying as Japan finally reached them, Germany having let go of him. He had a large grin on his face, looking up at the mountain that the four were making their way towards.

"Do you really think it's there," asked Germany, his normally stoic face twisted into an expression of disbelief. Prussia snorted.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, right?" The albino laughed, throwing his head back.

* * *

_**A deserted house on a mountain about three hours on foot from the world meeting place. No one knows how long it has been there or who used to live in it. Rumours said that it was haunted.**_

* * *

"Ve~! It's really here~!" Italy stared up at the large marble white building with wide eyes, a hand brought up to cover his eyes from the setting sun's glares. His companions also stared, their own expressions varying from surprise to disbelief.

"I thought it was just a rumour," Japan said, crossing his arms, his eyes travelling from window to window, the dark contrasting with the white. "I never thought that we would actually find it."

"It has such a desolate feel," Prussia added, a grin on his face. "Not bad, not bad at all~!"

Germany rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"I don't think it's very interesting, though."

"Me neither," Japan agreed. "Can't we just look at it from outside and then go back?"

Prussia turned to the Asian man, a devious smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised. His bangs moved out of the way his eyes with the motion of his head.

"What is it Japan? Are you scared~?"

Before Japan could respond, Italy interrupted with a cheerful grin.

"Prussia's right guys~! I mean, what's the point of leaving after all the trouble that it took to find this place? C'mon, let's just go in for a little while! Ve~!"

Germany frowned, sharing a wary look with his Asian friend and fellow nation before Italy grabbed onto his arm and dragged him to the door. Prussia had an excited grin on his face, ignoring the fact that the doors opened without any assistance from him as he walked in as if he owned the place. Italy followed behind the former nation, his grip still on Germany as the man told him to let go. Japan was right behind them, an amused smirk on his face. Germany sent a glare to the Asian, who simply raised an eyebrow.

The doors closed behind them once all four had made it inside. The four nations continued further into the house, looking around with wide eyes at the surprisingly clean interior.

"It's cleaner than I thought," Italy said, his hand dropping from Germany's arm.

"H-Hey, can we go now?" Japan raised an eyebrow to the other nation, blinking slightly in disbelief. Germany was nervous?

"What's the matter West? You scared?" Prussia's mocking smirk had returned.

A loud crash was heard from the right corridor, making Italy jump into Germany's arms, Prussia's head swinging around to stare down the hall. Japan flinched in surprise, stiffening. Suddenly, the bag on his back felt heavier, even though the only thing inside was his World War 2 uniform (What America wants, America gets. This time, he wanted to remember "The Good Ole' Days". It was a bit awkward for the Axis, but they slowly got used to it.) and a few mangas.

"L-Look, we really should go now," Germany replied, his eyes darting around the hall to the door, to the stairs, and down the dark corridor that the noise came from. The Asian nation rolled his eyes.

"Oh don't be silly," he scoffed. "It's not like there are any ghosts or anything. Where's your common sense?" He began to wander off down the hallway to investigate.

"He probably left it outside," Prussia replied snickering. Germany glared at his brother, smacking him in the head.

"Ve~! Be careful Japan," Italy called. The other nation just waved him off.

"I know," he replied. "I'll just go and see what happened. I'll be right back."

As he continued down the hallway, he saw a door on his left side. Japan quickly jogged over to the door. Stopping, he examined the knob before reaching out and attempted to turn it. It wouldn't budge.

"It's locked," he muttered with a frown before turning to continue down the hall. Reaching another door, Japan turned the knob and entered the room. It was rather dark and after a lot of stumbling he finally found the light switch. The lights turned on and he was greeted with a clean kitchen. Japan suddenly felt uneasy, his eyes slowly examining the room. His attention turned to another door and he quickly made his way to it. He turned the knob, but it refused to open.

"_It won't open," _he thought frowning. Backing away, he looked over to the kitchen table. His eyes continued to scan the room, finally resting on the broken plate on the floor. Japan walked over, stooping down to take a closer look.

"_What could have broken it? I have to be careful not to hurt myself,"_ he thought, picking up largest piece from the pile and placing it in his backpack. He took one last look around the kitchen before leaving to return to the others.

Once he reached the front hall once more, the Japanese man took a double take. Japan's eyes warily scanned the area.

"Did they leave after all?" He looked around again, sighing, "How regrettable." He made his way to the front door and pushed. Japan frowned, his expression darkening. He tried pulling it, but it still wouldn't budge.

"It…. Won't open?" He let go, staring at the wooden entrance. Finally, Japan began to bang on the door, fear creeping into his mind.

"Prussia-san?! Germany-san?! Italy-kun?! Open the door! Can you hear me?!" He received no answer. A chill rushed through him as he glanced around warily. _"Looks like I'll have to find another way out…." _

Japan decided to check out the hall on his left, finding another door. However, like some of the other doors that he saw, it was locked (_"What's with all the locked doors," _he couldn't help thinking). Finally, he reached the end of the hall and froze, his eyes widening and his hands beginning to shake. In front of him was some kind of…. Thing. He wasn't sure what it was. It was much taller than him, its skin a sickly grey colour.

"W-What was that?" Japan continued to shake, even though the thing was gone. _"I-I don't want to think about it." _

"I'm just getting old, I'm just getting old," he muttered, quickly checking out the next room, a bathroom, and hurried away back down the hall. He continued to investigate (completely ignoring the door the creature went into) before making his way to the second floor. Three out of the six doors were unlocked and Japan investigated each one thoroughly. However, only two held things that surprised him.

"T-This is-!" Japan lifted up the whip, some of the parts unraveling. He could recall a time during the Second World War when Germany took it out while he was over at Japan's house. "Germany-san's whip! What's it doing here?"

He looked down to the green comforter of the bed. Staring, he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks as he imagined some rather…. Disturbing images about his two friends. Shaking his head, Japan hurriedly put the whip into his bag. _"Now is __**NOT **__the time for yaoi!" _

"Well then," he cleared his throat, "if Germany-san's whip is here, than the others should be around here somewhere…. Right?"

In the third room, Japan carefully looked around. He made sure that the door was locked behind him (just in case, he had a _really_ bad feeling about that _thing_) before continuing his search. A yellow curtain caught his attention and made his way towards it. Slowly, he pushed it aside and gave out a shocked yell as something stumbled out.

* * *

Japan pushed open the door and locked it, carefully making sure that he didn't spill the glass of water (though he wasn't too sure if it actually was water) in his hand. He hurried to Germany, the other nation looking very pale and shaken on the floor.

"Here Germany-san," Japan said, handing the water to his friend. The German took the glass but paused.

"Are…. Are you sure this is water?"

"Judging by the colour…. Probably."

"I-I see…." Japan watched as Germany gave another suspicious glare at the contents of the cup before downing it in one gulp. Handing it back to the Asian man, who then put the glass onto a nearby table, Germany stood from the floor.

"Sorry for falling apart like that," Germany said. "I'm feeling a bit better now."

"That's good to hear. Where are the others?" Germany frowned.

"I'm not sure. We all ran for our lives, and those two went in different directions….. I think." He sighed. "Sorry, give me a moment to pull myself together." Japan nodded.

"Alright, take your time. I'll go look for the others." Before Japan could leave however, Germany placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Take this," he said, holding out a brass key to the Asian. "I found this while I was running. It'll certainly be of more use to you then to me." Japan took it, nodding determinedly as Germany returned to the closet. He examined it closely, turning it over in his hands. It was certainly an old key, the brass on it was slowly rusting. He could make out some carvings on it, though he wasn't sure on what it said. Rubbing at it, Japan could finally read the words:

_Library, First Floor_

"This place has a library? Hmm, if I had time I would probably look over what books they have," Japan muttered to himself as he made his way down the stairs. Some of the steps creaked when he put his weight down, making him wince. Once he reached the last step, he began investigating once more.


	2. The ManSion Where None Should ENter pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or HetaOni.**

**A/N: Hello my readers! I was rather happy when I saw that I already have someone who favourited this story, THANK YOU SQUACO! You guys are pretty awesome. Now then, let's get on with this. **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan pulls out the key Germany gave him, reading the inscription once more. His eyes travelled upwards to look at the door.

"Well, this is the only door I haven't checked," he muttered, putting the key into the lock. A click was heard and the Japanese man felt a smile appear on his face. Entering the library, the first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. He shuddered involuntarily, walking further in.

"_I don't like this," _he thought as he walked past the many rows of books. Japan's footsteps caused the floorboards to creak, the sound the only thing disturbing the absolute silence. He winced.

He let his eyes wander over the many books. They had no titles and were dusty. Most were rather worn and seemed to be tearing at the bases of their spines.

"It's a shame," he said aloud to the defying silence. "If I had time, I would take a look at the books…." He paused, his eyes spotting a book that was considerably less dusty then the rest.

"Well, just one wouldn't hurt." Japan pulled the book from its place. He looked it over, noticing how clean it was compared to the others. It also didn't have any words to describe what might be written inside. Opening to a random page, Japan began to read.

_The Dismissal of an enemy takes much time and practice. Not much is known on how the Dismissal works, though what is known is that it requires good timing as well as aim. Dismissing an enemy is also known to anger them as well as being very powerful, requiring much energy to cast._

"_Hmm… This is interesting," _Japan thought. He was about to close the book, however, multiple sheets of paper fell to the floor. A loud clatter was heard as something metal hit the ground, making Japan wince. Bending down, he began to sort through the pages.

Bringing the first sheet closer to his face, his eyes widened. Japan's hands shook as he read.

"_This….. This is MY handwriting! W-What…..?!" _What was written detailed how to _Dismiss_ an enemy in terms that were much easier to understand, compared to the book. He read the instructions quickly. Once he finally reached the end of the sheet, a note at the bottom caught his eye.

_To the person who finds this,_

_Learning to Dismiss the enemy is a great skill to have. I have put it into terms that are much easier to understand. Unfortunately, by the time I had found this book, it was already too late. Please, take this and learn it, or else, everything that __**he**__ has worked for will be all for naught! The enemy is strong, but by learning this, hopefully you will be able to escape._

_Sincerely, _

_J_

It was only signed with a letter, yet Japan knew that he was the one who wrote it. How was that possible? It didn't make sense.

He quickly took a look at the other sheets. They had pictures of kanjis and symbols of protection, obviously hand-drawn. Japan put them into his pocket. After a short observation, Japan also pocketed the key that had fallen from the book's pages. He placed it back onto its shelf and continued through the stacks, musing about the note.

Finally, Japan came to a sitting area. There were a few tables around the room, papers and books laid all over. He found it odd, yet he walked out into the open area. He felt like a deer in the headlights of a car and it didn't help that the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped by 20 degrees. He shuddered as he walked over to one of the tables.

"W-What is this?" Japan picked up the wrapped package. He blanched, his jaw dropping open.

"_A-An…. Ordinary riceball? Why is this here?" _His thinking was interrupted by the sound of heavy breathing that had appeared behind him. Japan froze. He could feel his blood running cold and a shiver crept up his spine. Shaking, Japan turned around.

He found that he couldn't move, his breathing becoming laboured and the sweat that ran down his face was cold as he stared into the emotionless eyes of….. _"What was that thing?!" _

It was the giant grey alien that he had seen earlier, though now it was even more terrifying then before. It raised its claws to swipe at him and Japan dodged, making a rush for the door. He looked behind him once only to see the thing chasing after him. Japan gulped, reaching the door and attempting to turn the knob.

It was locked. He felt around in his pocket, his eyes widening in shock. He had probably dropped the key to the library when he was running. Quickly turning around, he ducked and rolled as the thing's claws tore through the air above him, almost swiping off his head.

Japan slowly backed away. It seemed to almost stare into his soul. They twinkled dully in the faint light of the room in amusement, almost as if it was _playing _with him. He breathed heavily, clenching his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

A small glint caught his eye. Keeping his eyes on the monster, Japan attempted to get a closer look of the light. However, before he could distinguish what it was, the creature rushed him. Japan tried to dodge, however, a claw managed to rip through his shoulder. Crying out, Japan fell to the floor, clutching his shoulder.

He slowly got up, keeping his eyes on the monster. It seemed to be smiling madly at him, a crazy glint in its eye. Taking his hand away from the bleeding wound, Japan reached down to the sword on his waist, drawing the sharp blade from its sheath.

"_I need to get out of here," _he thought. _"How did I get in this situation?" _Japan and the thing stared each other down, their postures stiff as if ready to attack. Despite his confident exterior, Japan was quaking in fear on the inside. He looked over to where he saw the light.

"_There it is!" _The key was innocently lying on the floor. His gaze returned to the monster and then it charged. Dodging once more, Japan felt a burst of speed come onto him and he ran right to where he saw the key. He snatched it up, putting it hastily into his pocket and once more turned around. The monster growled menacingly.

Japan shuddered, his sword held out in front of him defensively and his breathing heavy. It grinned as t relished the fear that it felt from him. Japan slowly reached into his pocket, wanting to make sure the key was still there when his hand brushed one of the sheets. Pulling it out, he realised that it was one of the handmade talismans.

"_Wait…. Maybe…." _Japan held the paper tightly and looked back up to the monster, staring defiantly. It gave an angry snarl, charging once more.

But this time, Japan was ready. He swiftly sidestepped the beast and stuck the talisman on its side. It gave an ear-shattering scream, sparks of electricity being emitted from its body. As some of the shock jumped from the monster to him, Japan gave a strangled cry of pain, falling to his knees, his sword clattering to the ground and his hand running to his shoulder.

The current seemed to slip into the open wound and made the bleeding worse. He brought his hand away and looked at it, wincing. Red blood oozed from his wound and fell to the floor, and that same red was covering his hand and slipping through his fingers.

Shaking, he stood once more, picking up his sword. The monster was still in pain from the talisman and didn't seem about to get up anytime soon. Hurrying, Japan dashed to the door, unlocking it and slipping out. Slamming it shut behind him, he locked it with its key.

"Ugh….." Japan backed away from the door, groaning as he slid to the ground when he hit the wall behind him.

"_T-That thing…." _Japan winced, his hand travelling to his bloody shoulder once more. _"W-What was that thing?" _

Breathing heavily, Japan shoved the library key back into his pocket. Suddenly he froze. His hand felt past all of the sheets of paper, yet the only metal that he could feel was that of the library's key.

Japan groaned.

_He had left the other key inside the room._

* * *

**Shorter chapter than the last one, I know. It's just that this part was rather short and I didn't want to put FinDing FriEnDs in this part. **


	3. FindinG FRiends pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own HetaOni or Hetalia or any of their characters. Wish I did though….**

**A/N: Hello~! Welcome to the next installment of this story. *Grin* Thank you Magi889 for adding this story to your list of favourites. I really appreciate it. **

**Now, I need your help, lovely readers of mine. My version of HetaOni English has the random chases feature, like many others. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a feature in which Steve is able to pop up randomly and chase you. An example of this is when I had left Prussia and Germany in the fourth floor room with the mochi and entered the other room on the same floor. Steve came through the door behind me and scared me shitless. In other words, I died. Apparently, there is a way to turn this off, thank God, but the instructions I found were a bit unclear. It said to "Press A ingame to open a debug menu". **

**I found the menu, but I couldn't find the feature to turn off the bloody chases. Is this just my version or does it mean something else? Help would be much appreciated. Okay, thanks! **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan slowly stood from the floor, wincing again as he clutched his injured arm. He stared at it, slightly puzzled.

"_It should've healed by now," _he thought. _"Why hasn't it healed? Is it because…. Of that creature? Or….. Maybe….. This house….." _Japan's frown deepened as he closed his eyes briefly.

"_I…. I don't feel the weight of my people…. I can't feel them at all! What is going on?" _He opened his eyes again, his gaze travelling to the library door.

"_I-In any case…. I left the other key in there….." _Japan gulped, his knuckles white as they tightened around the handle of his sword. He inched his way closer, pulling out the key once more. The loud click had resounded as it turned, Japan's head whipping from side to side in paranoia.

"Please don't see me…. Please don't see me…," he mumbled to himself as he slowly opened the door. Peeking inside, his eyes scanned to see if it was anywhere near the door. He blinked in confusion, opening the door fully.

The library seemed to be brighter than before, and the freezing temperature seemed to have disappeared almost completely. In fact, the creature was nowhere in sight. Giving a huge sigh of relief, Japan returned his sword to its sheath and continued into the room.

As he made his way further into the room, Japan kept glancing over his shoulder to see if anything was behind him. He found himself in the sitting area and after a quick observation, Japan grabbed the talisman that he had stuck to the thing off the floor. It was surprisingly clean, with almost no flaws or imperfections. It was unnerving.

Finding the key on the floor, Japan lifted it up to eyelevel and read the faded inscription.

_Master Key, Fourth Floor_

"Now, this is good news," Japan exclaimed, putting the key back into his pocket.

"_Now maybe I can be able to find the other two." _After double (and triple) checking that he had everything, the Japanese man left the library and hurried up the stairs.

On the third floor, Japan found all three doors locked, much to his disappointment. He climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, wincing as they creaked loudly in the silence. He would not be surprised if that _thing_ managed to hear him. Best not to think about that.

On the fourth floor, there were two doors, one of which was already opened. Japan decided that he would check that room later as he unlocked the other door.

The room was quite empty, only holding a few desks, a curtain covered closet, and a chair that looked quite familiar, though he wasn't sure where he had seen it before. Taking a look through the desk and then under the table, he was disappointed to not have found anything of value. Next, he checked the closet. No one was hiding there, though inside there was a box that Japan decided to leave alone.

The nation gave a sigh, making his way to the door when he heard a squeak. He froze, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword on its own accord. Hearing the squeak again, Japan turned towards one of the bookshelves lining the walls, shuddering as he walked past the creepy chair.

"_There's something behind the bookcase." _Japan pushed the case out of the way, gasping as he saw what was hidden behind it.

"A mochi? What are you doing back here?" He squatted down so that he could look at it more carefully. It appeared to be fluffy (_"So cute…."_) and seemed to be wearing a pair of glasses. Its blue eyes peered up at him pleadingly.

"You seem to be stuck. Here, let me help." Japan grabbed hold of the mochi and pulled as hard as he could with his aching shoulder (though he was glad that it had stopped bleeding). However, it didn't budge. He panted, letting go.

"Gomenasai, Mochi-san," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to get you out." The mochi whimpered. Japan felt pity come upon him.

"Poor thing," he muttered.

"Though," he said a bit louder. "I think Germany-san will be able to. I'm not all that sure if I'll be able to get him up here though…. I might have to drag him…." He continued to mutter to himself as he left the room, closing the door behind him. However, before he could close it completely, something seemed to stop it.

"_Huh?" _Turning around, Japan found himself looking up into the eyes of the thing as it wrenched the door open. His eyes widened as he dodged out of the way of the monster's charge.

"Eh?! Anata wa doko kara kita?!" Japan ducked a pair of its claws and swiftly slipped past it, vaulting over the railing of the stairs. He landed with a thud on the steps, stumbling before rolling the rest of the way down.

Groaning, he attempted to get up again. Fresh blood dripped from the old claw wound onto the wooden floor and sank into the cracks and crevices. Japan gave out a shuddering breath as he pushed himself up to his feet. He could vaguely hear the sound of the creature's footsteps getting closer. Swaying and clutching his shoulder, Japan looked up as the creature descended the stairs slowly, taunting him, playing with its food.

He grimaced in pain, yet Japan's eyes didn't glance away from the monster's. Finally, the monster growled and with a surprising burst of speed, rushed at him. Japan ducked the sharp claws once more, slipping in between the creature's legs (he thanked whatever gods that existed for his small height, though it was a first) and running down the hall to the next flight of stairs.

He skipped two stairs at a time, his breathing hurried and laboured. The pounding of the creature's footsteps were loud in his ears as it chased him. Once more, Japan ran down the stairs and looked around. He could hear the thing's footsteps above him and on a whim, the Japanese man ran down the right hallway to the bathroom.

"_Just my luck," _he thought grimly. _"What will hiding in a __**bathroom**__ do?" _He flung the door open, slamming it shut behind him and locking it. Japan stood still, his heart racing and pounding in his chest. The only sound in the room was his heavy breathing and the occasional gulp for more air.

He could hear the sound of the monster's footsteps drawing nearer, so close that Japan stopped breathing, holding it inside him. He waited. Then, the footsteps faded and disappeared.

Japan gave a relieved sigh, falling to his knees wearily. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face, mixing with the blood of his bleeding shoulder on the floor.

"That….. That was too close." The Japanese nation groaned, whipping the sweat away. He slowly sat back, leaning against the wall as he pulled off his backpack.

"_Germany-san was right," _he thought, pulling out some bandages from one of the side pockets. _"It's best to be prepared for anything."_ He took off his jacket, wearing only his undershirt and took some of the bandages and hastily wrapped his arm as best he could. He then pulled the jacket back on, the fabric red from the constant blood.

Japan once again began to ponder why he wasn't completely healed by now, though he couldn't help but think that things were different here. Almost as if he was….. Human.

"_But, that can't be possible…. Can it?" _If that was the case, then if the claws had pierced any deeper or further down, than he would be…. If it was like this for him, he had no doubt that it would be the same for the others.

"_I better return to Germany," _he thought, placing the bandages back into the bag and pulling on the backpack, wincing. _"It's most definitely not safe to be by oneself in this place." _

Carefully, Japan drew his blade from its sheath as he opened the door back into the hallway. Warily, his eyes shifted back and forth in search of the monster, though it was nowhere to be seen. He could feel the paranoia creeping up his spine, making him shiver. He began to quietly walk down the hall and crept up the stairs to the second floor.

Once he reached the top, Japan jogged to Germany's hiding place, opening the door and then shutting it. As a second thought, he locked it behind him. Every precaution must be taken in this place.

"Germany-san?" Japan turned to where the yellow curtain should have been, and blinked in surprise. An iron door was standing in its place, loud hammering sounds coming from behind it. _"Was that there before?"_

"Umm…. Germany-san? Do you have a minute?" The hammering stopped and Germany's voice rang out.

"Japan? Is that you? What's the matter?"

"Well, you see, there's a mochi stuck in a room on the fourth floor." Japan shuddered before continuing.

"I feel sorry for it, so I was wondering if you would be able to get it out…." There was a pause as Germany pondered what Japan had just said.

"I…. see. Alright, I'll come out and get it. But I have one favor to ask of you."

"Sure, if it's something I can do."

"You see, when I was running away, I dropped my whip," Japan's mind was assaulted by images of Germany and Italy before shaking his head, "I think we should have some kind of weapon if that _thing_ were to show up again. If it's not too much trouble, could you please look for it?"

"Actually, I found your whip a while ago," Japan said, pulling off his backpack and rummaging through its contents.

"Really?" Japan didn't notice the disappointment and shock that was laced in Germany's voice as he looked through his cluttered bag.

"I found it in the room next door," he explained, finally pulling it from the bag.

"Here," he said. The iron door had opened a crack, taking the whip from his grasp. However, the hand didn't retreat, instead the door opening further. Germany stuck his head out, his eyes narrowed in worry.

"What happened to your shoulder?" Japan rolled said shoulder, a grimace appearing on his face.

"It's not that bad."

"_What_ happened? Did you get that from the _thing_?" It was quiet before Japan finally nodded.

"I managed to bandage it up though. It should be fine in a few hours." Germany frowned, though he didn't say anything. He drew back into the room, closing the door. Japan sweat dropped.

"Well, let's get to the fourth floor-."

"W-Well, actually…." Japan raised an eyebrow.

"Ah…. I-I'm sorry…. The truth is….." Germany paused. Japan folded his arms together.

"…. I'm actually kind of hungry. Do you have anything for me to eat?"

"G-Gomen, but I didn't bring anythin-," Japan said, blinking in surprise.

"I see!" Japan was taken aback by the relief that he heard from his fellow nation's voice.

"If it isn't too much trouble…. Could you go look for something to eat?" Japan's jaw dropped.

"Eh?! Sumimasen, watashi wa anata no kenri o shirimashita ka?! Th-That's impossible! How can I find food in a place like-?"

"Please!" Japan stopped at his friend's desperate tone. "I-I have no strength right now. Anything is fine, just… Go get me something. Okay?"

Japan sighed, shaking his head.

"Fine. I'll take another look around. I still need to look for the others anyway."

"Thank you," Germany replied, relief in his voice. "Oh, by the way. Take this." The door opened again and a flask was thrown from out of the darkness. Japan caught it and peered closely at the label.

"_Beer? He gives me beer?" _He sighed, pulling off his backpack and placing it inside.

"Thanks Germany-san. I better get going then."

"Okay, thanks." Japan gave a sigh as he pulled the backpack back on.

"_Alright, let's go." _The Japanese man unlocked the door.

* * *

**Note: The part where Steve chases Japan out of the mochi-room? This actually happened to me. It's one of the random chases that occurred to me. My reaction to that was "WHAT?! WHERE WAS YOU?! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!" **

**Gomenasai – I'm sorry**

**Eh?! Anata wa doko kara kita?! – Eh?! Where'd you come from?! **

**Gomen – Sorry**

**Eh?! Sumimasen, watashi wa anata no kenri o shirimashita ka?! – Eh?! I'm sorry, did I hear you right?!**


	4. FindinG FRiends pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or HetaOni.**

**A/N: So….. Bored….. God, I hate when this happens! You know what? Let's get this next chapter started! I got nothing else to do anyways…. Thank you Aprincessb1215 for reviewing! Nice long chapter for all my readers! **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan sighed, closing the fridge door.

"_How am I supposed to find food in a place like this? What does Germany-san expect, liver wurst?" _He gave a huff, making his way out of the kitchen.

"_Now that I think about it, Germany-san was acting a bit strange…." _The Japanese man jumped at the sound of a loud drill was heard from the floor above. He looked up in confusion, sweat dropping.

"What in the world is he doing up there?" Japan shook his head, making his way down the hall.

"_Maybe if I look around a bit more… Huh?" _The nation blinked in surprise. The door at the end of the hall, though locked before, was now opened. He felt a shiver run down his spine, as a feeling of suspicion flashed through him.

"That door….. Something is very wrong," he felt himself saying, his eyes narrowing. Japan's heart was leaping from his chest as he took wary steps towards the door.

He tried to convince himself that maybe it was either of his other friends or perhaps China and the others had arrived. Though, he knew that it most likely wasn't true. Not for lack of trying though.

"I-Italy-kun? P-Prussia-san?" No answer came from the darkness within, and Japan took another wary step towards the door.

"_I-I should go back," _he thought, though he took another step.

"_B-But I should check, shouldn't I? T-They might be hiding… Or it could be one of the others or…" _Japan had finally reached the door. He took a shaky breath, his hand reaching for the handle. Only, it wasn't the handle that he had found. A grey claw had wrapped its fingers around his wrist and gave a sharp tug, pulling him into the darkness.

Japan stumbled backwards, the claw letting go of his arm. He pressed himself against the door behind him (_"The closed and locked door," _he thought as he tried to turn the knob).

The room was freezing, the only sound being the Japanese man's breathing.

"_I-I need to find a light switch," _he thought, his hands groping the wall for any sign of the much needed object. Finding it, Japan flicked it upwards, his hands shaking from the cold temperature. Once the light flickered on, he froze.

His eyes were glued to the giant grey thing that was standing tall above him as it looked down at him, a hideous grin on its face.

"Oh…. Kuso." The beast threw out a clawed hand, hitting the wooden door behind him. Splinters rained down over his head as Japan crawled through the opening in between the creature's legs. But it seemed to have learned from their last encounter, for the thing's leg kicked out behind it.

Japan felt himself fly, his backpack falling to the ground as he smashed into the mirror, causing him to cry out. Fresh blood dripped from his back from where the glass shards were as well as from his bandaged arm. He heard a sinister chuckle as he lifted his head.

"YoU…. WilL… nOt… EsCaPe…." It growled (_"It can talk?!" _Japan thought). It then rushed him once more, claws outstretched and ready to pierce into his flesh. The nation gave a startled gasp, ducking once more and pulling out his sword with a wince.

He blindingly stabbed into the air in front of him, his sword slashing the grey skin again and again and again, yet it didn't seem to affect the creature much. Sure it jumped back with an angry scowl and black blood littering the floor, mixing with his own red blood, yet it didn't seem to stop.

"_This space is rather small," _Japan couldn't help but think as he dodged another blow from the thing. _"I don't think I'll be able to keep this up for long."_ His back ached, red droplets of blood gushing out and falling into a deep puddle on the floor. He grimaced as he dodged another of the thing's claws.

Japan pulled out one of the talismans from his pocket, blocking with his sword before he stuck it to the creature. It cried out as the shock ran through it, Japan jumping out of the way and onto one of the chairs in the corner. Once it stopped, it seemed to be angrier. Japan gulped, stepping down from the chair and moving into a blocking stance.

His hands were shaking, the tip of his sword tilting ever so slightly from side to side. The creature snarled, its pitch black eyes staring straight at him.

Japan wasn't thinking clearly, he knew that for certain. He also knew that the Thing (_Thing _seemed to be its official name now) had a rather large advantage, what with managing to injure him as well as catching him by surprise. Japan didn't like it one bit, but he was too frightened to notice.

Then, he remembered.

"_The letter that that person, myself, wrote…. Could that skill defeat the Thing?" _Japan's eyes narrowed, his terrified expression turning into one of sheer determination.

"_Only one way to find out!" _Japan side-stepped the monster's next attack, his will to survive kicking in as everything began to move in slow motion. As he backed towards the door, Japan began to chant, his voice soft before becoming louder and louder.

The Thing roared, rushing at him just as he finished. Japan leaped over its head, flipping in midair and landed on his feet. His wounds pained him, yet he did not falter as he began to continuously slash at the monster's back.

"Time for you to go back where you came from!" The Thing gave a loud cry, its piercing scream echoing throughout the entire mansion. Japan leapt back before diving in once more with a final strike. The creature cried out once more, snarling mixed with contempt as it twisted to swing at him, knocking Japan backwards into the wall.

The nation groaned, slowly struggling to get up when the lights flickered off. Japan froze.

"_Is it going to…?" _His unasked question was answered when they came back on. And the Thing was gone.

Japan gave a weary chuckle, leaning his head against the wall behind him.

"_I….. I defeated it….. I defeated it….. Thank god…" _A part of him knew that this was only one of many victories that will come in time, yet he didn't care. He gave a sigh. Blood continued to flow from his back, staining the wall and floor around him. It seemed to have gotten worse since he hadn't done anything to stop it.

Stumbling, Japan got to his feet, grabbing a towel from the cupboard that had been knocked over in the fight. He folded it before setting it against the wall and, after taking his jacket off, leaning against it. His breathing was heavy and his vision was growing dim from the blood loss as he passed out.

* * *

Japan blinked wearily, eyes opening slowly as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes finally turned with his head to view the wound on his back, the bleeding appearing to have stopped. Breathing with a sigh of relief, Japan stood from the floor, the white towel bloody and soaked. The rest of the floor wasn't any better.

He groaned, his eyes resting on his jacket, the shoulder and back as red as the rest of the room. He limped over to where his backpack lay, surprisingly dry and not covered in blood. Picking it up, Japan slowly limped back to the wall.

Placing it onto a clean patch of floor, Japan neatly folded his still damp jacket (to which he shuddered) and put it inside. He glanced around the room, his eyes resting on the broken mirror. He walked over to it, turning around.

Japan winced as he saw his back. The entire back of his t-shirt was ripped and scars were all over from where the glass shattered, dried blood sticking to the surface of his skin and the fabric. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

No, what caught his attention was the largest scar. It reached from his right shoulder all the way to his lower back and it looked very deep.

"_Almost like…." _Japan shuddered, shaking his head in regret. Though the doubts still crept into his mind, latching on like a magnet to metal.

He limped away from the mirror and back to his bag. Opening the side pocket, he pulled out the bandages and re-wrapped his shoulder. He couldn't reach his back, so he decided to wait until he found the others so that they could help. After zipping it back up, Japan pulled it back on, giving out a sharp hiss as the rough texture rubbed against his sensitive skin.

Letting the bag drop, he sighed, grabbing it from one of the straps. He took another glance around the room. His eyes stopped as they saw something silver in the bathtub.

Japan made his way over to it, pulling out a key.

_Bedroom key, Second Floor_

He sweat dropped. Japan placed the key in his pocket, shaking his head.

"_Which bedroom," _he asked himself as he left the room. Japan scanned the hall before running as fast as he could to the stairs. He limped up the stairs slowly, his ears strained as they tried to listen for anything suspicious.

Finally reaching the top, he began to try the doors that were locked before.

* * *

"Last door," Japan muttered to himself, sticking the silver key into the lock.

A loud click was heard, making the nation whip his head around in paranoia before he pushed it open and walked inside. His backpack hung from his hand as it slowly swung back and forth with his movements.

Japan locked the door behind him upon noticing the quivering ball of blankets on the bed. He placed the bag on the floor beside the door, slowly making his way to the bump. Just as he was about to uncover the blankets, something slipped out from underneath. Silver caught the light as a sword came down.

"Who's there?!" Japan gasped in surprise, pulling out his own sword hastily and blocking the attack.

"Doudou, Prussia-san! Calm down, it's only me!"

The German blinked, sighing in relief as he retracted his sword.

"Ah Japan? Sorry 'bout that." Japan nodded, placing his katana back into its sheath.

"It's alright." Japan noticed Prussia's ashen face.

"Um, anata wa daijobudesu Prussia-san?"

Prussia snapped, grabbing onto Japan's shoulders, causing him to wince. The other man didn't seem to notice as he began ranting and shaking the Japanese man.

"There…. There was this _THING_! I saw it! It was a stark naked giant the colour of rotten scones!" Japan sweat dropped at the odd reference. Prussia noticed his expression, his grip tightening and the shaking became more violent.

"Don't tell me you don't believe me! West and Ita saw it too! Next thing I know, I wound up here! And… And those two….. I-I don't know where they went…." Japan raised his hands up and stopped the albino from shaking him.

"Prussia-san, please let go. You're hurting me." The ex-nation dropped his arms, his red eyes finally noticing Japan's appearance.

"By God," Prussia mutter, eyes wide. "What happened to you?"

"It's alright," the Japanese man replied, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. "I believe you Prussia-san. Because…. I saw it too."

The ex-nation seemed to freeze as he stared. Japan self-consciously looked away.

"If it did that to you…," Prussia whispered, before his voice became louder. "W-What the hell was that _Thing_? And what happened to the others?"

"Germany-san is on this floor as well," Japan replied.

"He told me he was hungry." The Japanese man gave a small smile as Prussia stifled a laugh.

"But I haven't found Italy-kun ye-."

"_WHAT_?!" Japan couldn't help but jump at Prussia's sudden interruption. "Ita is missing?! Did that monster-?"

"Iie Prussia," Japan said, placing his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Remember Prussia-san! Italy-kun has one special talent that he is extremely good at!"

The two's eyes met.

"He can run away," Prussia said quietly, prompting Japan to nod.

"Well then," Prussia finally said, Japan dropping his arms back at his sides as the ex-nation stretched. "I'll help look for Ita too! But first, let's get West!"

"I'm not sure if that's possible," Japan replied. "He said that he was too hungry to move. Do you happen to have anything…?"

"Well~ now that you mention it," Prussia reached into his back pocket and pulled out something. "I found these mushrooms while I was running. Will these do?"

"That… Could work," Japan replied, blinking. _"How could he have found those in a place like this?"_

"Since that's settled, I could use your help," Japan began, making his way to his backpack. He heard Prussia wince as he caught sight of Japan's back, but the Asian paid it no mind. Suddenly, he heard the sound of Prussia's footsteps behind him and an arm grabbed Japan's wrist and pulled him back. He looked over to the albino, in confusion.

"Prussia-san? What's wrong?" Prussia didn't answer, simply staring at the door and tightening his grip. Finally, he spoke in such a low whisper, Japan had to strain to hear him.

"Hey…. Do you hear that?" The Japanese nation blinked and closed his eyes in hopes to heighten his other senses.

The sound of footsteps from the hallway….. The temperature in the room seemed to slowly drop as the footsteps grew louder and more closer. And Japan knew.

"Kuso," he muttered. "It must have followed me."

The two remained silent as the footsteps continued to get closer. It seemed to know exactly where they were.

"Hey…" Japan looked over to the ex-nation, who was looking down to the Asian's waist.

"If that thing isn't for show," Prussia said, letting go of Japan's arm and drawing his sword, "pull it out of the scabbard. If you don't want to be eaten, that is."

Japan nodded, drawing his katana from its sheath. The two stood stiffly and silently, their eyes glued to the door in front of them. The footsteps came to a halt.

The air was freezing and the two couldn't help but shiver. Sweat dripped down Japan's forehead and Prussia's grip tightened around the handle of his sword.

The door knob rattled and the two jumped. There were a series of loud pounding sounds as the Thing attempted to get in. Japan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good thing ya locked the door," Prussia muttered. Japan gave a nod in agreement.

"_I don't want to think of what would happen if I didn't."_

The rattling stopped. With bated breath, the two could only hear the sounds of each other's hearts.

"Do you….. Think it's gone?" Japan nodded slowly.

"It seems like it," he replied. Prussia gave a loud sigh, swinging up his sword so that it rested on his shoulder.

"Well then," he said cheerfully, "that was a little scary, but now we should join West. Then we can find Ita and get out of here as soon as possible!"

"Not an easy task, but we'll be able to do it, I'm sure." Prussia grinned.

"Let's go then!" Without asking, Prussia picked up Japan's bag. However when he protested, Prussia scoffed and slipped it onto his back. Japan sighed, deciding that it probably was best that the other hold onto it. If they ran into the Thing again, Japan would have a much more difficult time fighting.

Japan made his way to the door, and upon unlocking it, turned the knob…

…Only to come face to face with the Thing.

"Holy shit!" Prussia slipped and fell onto his butt as Japan backed away from the door, the creature advancing into the room with its sadistic grin plastered onto its face.

"I thought it was gone!"

"Apparently not…." The room had gotten even colder, and Japan cursed how he hadn't noticed.

"The more I look at it, the more sick I feel!" Prussia slowly got back onto his feet. "I can't show my awesomeness like this! Do something Japan!"

Said nation sighed, shaking his head as he raised his katana. He began to chant, slightly surprised by how quickly he could say it now after just using it once. Finally, Japan struck, a blur as he ran at the monster and slashed at its grey flesh, black blood splattering over the floor. He then jumped back, Prussia staring with eyes wide and his jaw open.

"How'd you do that?!"

"I read a book," Japan replied, eyes trained on the monster.

"Well then, the Awesome Prussia will now out due that technique with his special finishing move!" The ex-nation rushed at the Thing, dodging a claw and then slicing his blade across its chest. It roared, stumbling back. Prussia laughed arrogantly as it glared at him.

"Prussia-san, look out!" Japan pushed the albino out of the way, blocking the creature's claw with his katana. Prussia jumped up from the floor, sneering at the creature.

Japan glared in defiance up into the Thing's large black eyes as the two stood off, neither gaining ground. But Japan could feel it. He was weakening. He was weary from his last battle with the monster and his wounds weren't helping. He gave a push with all of his strength, causing the creature to stumble back.

Japan then rushed at it, stabbing his katana through its throat. Its black blood squirted into his face and onto the floor as it hit the wall and slide down. It did not move.

The Japanese nation was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he fell to his knees in exhaustion. Prussia ran over to him.

"You okay Japan?" The ex-nation placed a hand on Japan's shoulder. He nodded. Finally looking up at Prussia, Japan felt a slight frown appear on his face as he wiped away the blood with his arm, grimacing as the stuff stuck to his arm.

"Never let your guard down." Prussia pouted under Japan's glare. He turned away to look at the Thing, freezing.

"Prussia-san?" The ex-nation raised his sword, his skin pale. Japan followed the other's gaze and stared in disbelief as the monster snarled at them, slowly standing.

"H-How…?" The monster roared, pulling Japan's katana from its throat. Black blood fell to the ground from the wound. Japan swallowed the bile that appeared in his throat.

He could see the wall through the hole that his katana had made, pieces of bloody flesh swinging from the opening with an imaginary breeze. He could barely make out the sight of the Thing's tongue.

Japan couldn't help but gag as he crawled backwards away. Prussia stood protectively in front of him, sword raised to block anything.

The Thing growled, raising Japan's katana. With lightning fast speed, the creature hurled it at the two nations. Prussia moved like water, his own sword swiftly parrying the flying blade and sending it into the opposite wall. He smirked.

"Come on now," he taunted. "Ya can do better than that, can't ya?"

The monster gave out a furious roar, rushing at the albino, claws outstretched and its mouth open showing sharp pointy teeth. Japan felt sick when he noticed that there was foam coming from its mouth mixed with more of its blood.

Prussia began his own dance with the monster, dodging and ducking its blows. Japan was in shock, his gaze never leaving the battle.

"_It's like a Japanese horror game," _he thought, shuddering. Japan wished he could help Prussia, he really did. But he was so tired. His wounds ached and his katana was stuck in the wall. He could tell that it would take some time to get it out.

"_Unfortunately, we don't have time." _Japan could feel hope slowly fade away.

"_We need to finish this," _he thought. _"If only we knew its weakness…" _

Japan continued to watch the fight. Then, it came to him. He didn't know how he knew, but it didn't really matter, now did it?

"Prussia-san! Its forehead!"

Prussia stepped back, nodding before dodging and jumping above the creature's head. It roared, clawing in the air above him.

"Take this, you shithead!" Prussia's sword pierced through its forehead. Blood squirted from the wound, Prussia getting some on his face. The albino swiftly pulled the sword out and jumped off, landing on the ground and striking an epic pose as he wiped the blood away.

The monster gave one final roar before, much to their surprise, fading away into nothing. Prussia gave an arrogant smirk before making his way to Japan, holding out his hand.

The Asian nation took it.

"Let's get to Germany-san," he said. Prussia nodded, the grin on his face, fading as he looked over to the wall.

"Sorry 'bout that Japan," he said. Japan shook his head.

"Let's just hurry."

The two began to work on getting his katana out of the wall.

* * *

"This is the fortress that Germany-san is," Japan said, gesturing to the giant iron door in front of them.

Prussia whistled.

"Seems pretty solid," he said. "Hey West!"

"Prussia? Is that you?" Germany opened the door, his head sticking out. "Are you alright?"

"Hell ya! Of course, I'm okay, I'm awesome after all!" Japan rolled his eyes.

"So, Japan told me that you were hungry." Japan cringed as Prussia pulled out the, now crushed, mushrooms.

Germany apparently thought something along similar lines as his eyebrows furrowed and he frowned.

"I… Lost my appetite." Prussia shrugged, throwing the mushrooms into his mouth.

"Your loss." After swallowing, Prussia grinned. Japan sighed, glancing to the door.

"We should get going," he said. "We still need to find Italy-kun and get Mochi-san out of the wall."

"Alright," Germany replied, stepping out of his hideout, closing the door behind him. "I'm done here anyway."

Japan nodded, about to turn to leave the room when Prussia laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the ex-nation, confused.

"What about your injuries?" This got Germany's attention, the strict nation raising an eyebrow.

"Injuries? As in, more than the one that you had earlier?"

"It's nothing to worry about," Japan exclaimed, raising his hands. Prussia shared his brother's expression.

"Japan," he said seriously, "It looked really bad."

Germany strode over, glaring down at him. Japan sweat dropped, cringing.

"Turn around," he said. Japan sighed, turning to show his scarred back. Prussia gave a hiss. Germany's jaw dropped open in shock.

"You idiot! Don't you know that if you leave something like this unattended that you'll get it infected?!"

Germany had his protesting Japanese friend sit down in a nearby chair. Prussia handed his brother Japan's bag. Said brother then proceeded to pull out new bandages and some disinfectant cream.

* * *

"Aww, you're so cute," Prussia cooed to the mochi, much to Germany's horror.

"Um, _bruder_…" The ex-nation shot up, coughing into his hand awkwardly.

"Oh, right… West, why don't you take a look?"

The nation rolled his eyes before he knelt down to take a closer look. The poor mochi trembled underneath Germany's intense gaze. Japan sweat dropped.

"Well," Prussia began, "It looks like it's stuck pretty deep. Do you think you can get it out West?"

Germany then proceeded to attempted to pull the poor creature from the wall. It gave a pain filled squeal. With a loud pant, Germany let go.

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head, "I don't think I can get it out with my bare hands. But maybe…"

"Maybe…. What," asked Prussia.

"If I had some kind of tool, I think I could do it," Germany replied, turning back to look at the mochi. The tiny creature gave a squeak of fear.

"I'll see what I can do," Japan said. The two brothers looked over to him, both wearing frowns.

"I know that you can be pretty awesome (but not as much as me) when it comes to fighting that thing," Prussia began, "but is it really a good idea to go by yourself?"

"You're still injured Japan," Germany stated, readjusting his gloves. "I don't think it's wise."

"You forget Germany, I still need to find Italy-kun. Besides," Japan turned towards the door, his newly bandaged back facing the German brothers, "if I do end up running into that Thing, I'll just run."

Germany held his gaze before giving a curt nod, turning back to the mochi. Before Prussia could protest, he heard Germany begin pulling on the mochi again. His brother's nostrils flared, his muscles tensing and his mouth were in the shape of a scowl.

"Awesome face," the albino commented, grinning. Japan snorted, shaking his head.

"I'll get going then."

Checking the hall, Japan then left the room.

* * *

**Changed the rating due to the violence that was displayed in this chapter. Trust me, I'm just getting started here. And it all started cause I was bored in science class yesterday morning. *grin* **

**Have a great day! And for those fellow Canadians that read this story, happy Thanksgiving weekend!**

**Kuso – Crap**

**Doudou – Whoa**

**Anata wa daijobudesu – Are you alright**

**Iie - No**


	5. The AllieS

**Disclaimer: I do not own HetaOni or Hetalia.**

**A/N: *Reads reviews. Starts crying* Thank you so much Aprincessb1215! It makes me so happy that you like this story! **

**Anyway, I do have to apologize. As I was going over the last chapter (After I posted it, that is), I noticed a few grammar errors in my writing. **

…**..**

**Yeah, I was not happy. But me being me, I'm too lazy to fix it. So, if something like that happens again, tell me. I still won't fix it, but tell me anyways, okay? Just letting you all know. **

**Then, you all can see me rage about improper grammar in the next chapter's note. Should be fun, da? **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

"_If I remember right, there should be some tools on the counter in the kitchen," _Japan thought as he made his way towards the stairs. Passing the bedroom, Japan stopped, staring at the door.

"_Now that I think about it, I haven't searched that room yet." _The Japanese man stood there, glancing from the door to the staircase. Suddenly, Japan could feel the air grow colder, the sound of heavy footsteps on the floor below. He froze.

"Well," he said quickly, slipping into the room, "Better check it now rather than later."

Locking the door behind him, Japan gave a sigh of relief. Finally, he glanced up to look around the room.

It was a bedroom, much like the others on the second floor (though the lack of black blood was a difference that Japan welcomed). However, unlike the others, this room seemed slightly larger, with a coffee table, shelves, and two beds.

After searching, Japan found a piece of paper. Two large squares were drawn on it, green on the left and blue on the right. It seemed to be missing its other half.

"How odd," he muttered, placing the paper into his pocket, cursing quietly for leaving his backpack with Prussia and Germany. At least he brought his talismans and katana.

Moving to the other side of the room, Japan found a lever and a large red button on the wall. In addition to the two objects, Japan saw a sign on the wall. He stood closer so he could read it.

_Up is Heaven_

_Middle is Earth_

_Down is Hell_

Curious, Japan kept the lever in the middle. After waiting for a few seconds, he looked over to the button. He felt a small smile appear on his face. No matter what anyone would say, no matter what it would do, Pakistan would _always_ push the button. She said that it was a reaction.

He debated with himself for a moment if pushing the button was _really_ a good idea (because usually, after pushing a red button, bad things happen) before shrugging.

"_What harm could it do?" _He then pushed the button. A loud clang made the nation jump, whipping out his katana and spinning around.

Japan sighed, placing the katana back in its sheath. Something had dropped from the ceiling. Bending down, he picked it up and read the inscription.

_Master key, Second Floor_

"This could come in handy," Japan said, putting the key into his pocket with the scrap of paper. He then returned to the lever.

Pushing the lever upwards to "Heaven", Japan pressed the button. He then proceeded to jump in surprise, moving so his back was against the wall as a loud banging sound was emitted from the door. Breathing heavily and pressing a hand to above his heart, Japan then turned to the lever once more. He stared.

A large knife had just jutted out from underneath the bottom of the lever. It had dried blood crusted on its edges. If he hadn't moved, he would have died. Japan thought of how ironic it was that the monster was the one who saved him from such a swift death as the blade slowly retracted into the wall.

In fact, he probably would have preferred that the knife had stabbed him instead of the fate that clearly awaited him if he left the room. The banging continued to get louder, angry growls and snarls piercing through the wood and reaching Japan's ears. He could feel the cropping fear building in his chest as he turned back to the lever.

"Down is Hell huh? Well," Japan muttered, moving the lever down, "It sure seems like I'm in hell already." He pushed the button.

The loud sound of something scraping made Japan pull out his katana once more, thinking that the Thing had finally broken the door. But no, one of the beds on the opposite side of the room had shifted to reveal the dark hole that it had been covering.

"_It's the only chance I've got…. Sorry Germany-san, Prussia-san."_ Japan leapt into the darkness just as the creature broke the door open. Yet when it didn't find him, the bed having moved back to its original spot after he jumped, it let out an angry roar and charged into the other fourth floor room.

Japan landed on the floor beneath him in a crouch, his eyes darting around in case there was anything suspicious. However, when he realized it was safe, the nation sighed in relief and stood up straight.

The room he was in was pure white, the Japanese man having to blink so that his eyes could adjust. There were several bookshelves lining the walls. However, the only other object that stood out was the giant grand piano that was right in the middle.

"What is a piano doing here?" Japan walked up to the instrument, placing a finger on one of the keys, a low C. There were coloured numbers on the notes, to which he raised an eyebrow yet didn't question. He shook his head, walking to the door.

"_I'll test it later."_

Japan opened the door, revealing the entire third floor corridor to him. With a grin, he exited the room. When he closed the door shut behind him, it made a loud bang that echoed throughout the mansion and he froze.

When nothing came running down the stairs (to which Japan couldn't help but wince, regretting his decision to at least lure the beast away from the others), he gave a loud sigh of relief.

"That was close."

He walked to the door in front of him, in hopes that it was finally open. When he twisted the knob, Japan let a triumphant noise escape from his lips.

Entering the room, Japan was astounded to see yet _another_ library.

"_How many libraries does this place have?"_ He cautiously walked past the towering shelves, his paranoia returning as the fear of being ambushed came back.

"Japan?" The Japanese man jumped, twisting around and drawing his katana from its sheath quickly. But instead of the Thing, he only saw the familiar shape of Italy. Sighing with a faint smile, Japan lowered his guard.

"Italy-kun!" Said nation grinned, running to his friend and enveloping him in a large hug.

"Ve~ Japan! I'm so glad you're okay!" Japan winced as Italy crushed him with his grip, but patted his friend's back.

"S-Somehow," he replied, pulling away and holding the other nation by his shoulders, "I'm glad that you're alright as well."

Italy gave him one of his silly grins.

"Right after you left, this giant whatchamacallit came and attacked us," he said.

"Germany was the first one to scream…. Didn't you hear him?" Japan shook his head (inwardly thinking _"Germany-san screamed first?"_). Italy shrugged before continuing.

"Really? Oh well… When Germany screamed, it really surprised me and then the three of us ran as fast as we could! Next thing I know, I got separated from Germany and Prussia!" The Italian's eyes became teary.

"I'm sorry I abandoned you Japan."

"There's nothing to apologize about," Japan replied, grasping Italy's face with his hands and wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "Anyone would have done the same thing in a situation like that. Even me."

"I-I guess…" The Japanese man gave the Italian a reassuring smile.

"This mansion is rather odd though," Japan said, letting go and bringing a hand up to tap his chin.

"Yeah, and all the doors are locked, the windows are barred. And my phone doesn't have any signal!" Italy then gave Japan another smile.

"But I'm glad I found Japan!" It was quiet as the Italian finally took in his friend's appearance.

The shoulder of Japan's shirt was ripped, revealing the white bandages wrapped around the skin that should have shown. If Italy had been looking at him from behind, Japan knew that he would see the ripped backing as well as the bandages that Germany had used. In addition to that, dried blood still clung to the material. The Japanese man was a mess, and he knew it.

Italy gasped, eyes wide in fear. His hands grabbed onto Japan's own, nails lightly digging into his flesh.

"Japan, what happened? Did you run into the whatchamacallit too? Are you okay? Tired? How badly are you hurt? Did that thing get you? Do you need any of my pasta to feel better?" Japan squeezed Italy's hands.

"I'm alright," he said, hoping to reassure his worried friend.

"What about you Italy-kun? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay. When I was walking around, I didn't run into the Whatchamacallit again, so I'm okay! Ve~!"

Japan couldn't help but blink, slowly processing what the Italian had just said. Italy was walking around the mansion? By himself? Japan couldn't help but be confused. Italy's normal reaction would have been to wave his white flag and run in the opposite direction.

"You're surprisingly calm about this Italy-kun." The Italian tilted his head.

"Ve~?"

"You were wandering around this mansion. Are you not scared?" Italy looked up to the ceiling, appearing to be in deep thought (for Italy anyway.).

"Veeeee~ When that Thing came, all I wanted to do was cry and cling to Germany," he began, letting go of Japan's hands, mirroring Japan's stance earlier.

"But then I saw how frightened he and Prussia were. After running away and losing that Whatchamacallit, I realized that I couldn't rely on Germany all the time! Someone needed to keep a level head," he finished, puffing out his chest in pride.

"I was surprised by how calm I actually felt and I started wandering the mansion in hopes of finding everyone so we can get out of here!"

Italy smiled again and Japan couldn't help but stare.

"_First, Germany loses the sternness he usually has. Then, I learn that the monster can potentially kill us. And now, Italy is the calm and rational one?" _He shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"That makes sense," Japan replied, "I was startled at first as well, but somehow was able to quickly calm down."

Italy gave a happy giggle, clapping his hands. Then, he titled his head once more.

"Ve~ Japan? Have you found Germany or Prussia yet? I haven't seen them anywhere!"

Japan felt dread slowly creep into his chest. Italy's expression turned worried.

"They're on the fourth floor trying to get a mochi out of the wall," he said, "But they couldn't. I said I would find something that they could use but…."

"But…. What? What happened?"

"I was in the other room on the same floor," Japan replied quickly, quickly walking to the door. Italy gasped at the sight of the many bandages, yet followed as Japan led him up the stairs. The situation at hand was more dire than old wounds.

"The Thing was banging on the door. I just barely managed to escape, but I didn't have time to warn Germany-san or Prussia-san." Italy gasped.

"Then we have to hurry! We may not have much time!" Italy grabbed Japan's hand and pulled him up the rest of the stairs. Japan nodded.

"H-Hai!"

The two reached the top, hurrying to the room where the others were. The door had been flung open and the two friends could see Germany and Prussia fighting the creature.

Germany had his whip around its neck to give his brother time to get up from the floor. Prussia spit out blood, wiping his jaw as he slowly stood and raised his sword. The ex-nation seemed to have difficulty moving his right leg, for he tried not to put too much weight on it. Germany had blood running down the side of his head as he breathed heavily from exertion.

"Germany! Prussia!" The three all turned to look at Italy. The Thing's mouth pulled back, its terrifying grin growing impossibly wide.

"Italy!"

The Thing came hurling towards the doorway, managing to get free from Germany's whip. Its claws flexed and its jaws opened showing glistening teeth.

Quickly stepping in front of his friend, Japan drew his katana. Metal clashed against bone as Japan stopped the Thing in its attack. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a talisman and darted under its arms. He stuck it to the Thing's flesh and much like the other times, the creature screeched and stumbled back. Snarling, it attempted to rush at them again, yet was stopped as Germany's whip once more wrapped around its throat.

"Oh no you don't," the nation growled, pulling the Thing away from the duo in the doorway.

"Tsk," Prussia said, standing beside his brother, "You two came back too quickly. Japan, get Ita out of here, now! West and I can handle this!"

The duo were silent as they stared. Japan finally sighed, leaning on his katana as he ran a hand through his hair.

"My, my… I seem to be losing my hearing in my old age. I can't hear you at all."

Prussia blinked in surprise, his head whipping back to look over at them.

"Wha-? I-Ita?!"

"I-I uh…. Went deaf as well," Italy stuttered, pulling out the book that he had begun to carry around since the world meeting.

"Y-You….," Germany growled. Japan gave a small smirk.

"Now isn't this nostalgic? I once again draw my katana out in the name of the Axis." Italy giggled, flipping to a page in the book.

"Yeah," he said, "We've been at peace for so long, that I had forgotten!" Japan looked over at Italy, smiling.

"It's an honor to fight once more with you." Turning to the monster, he glared.

"Let's go Italy-kun!"

"Veeee~ Yeah! Let's go!"

The monster let out a roar, once more breaking free from Germany's whip before rushing at the two smaller nations in the doorway. Japan quickly pushed Italy out of the way, blocking the attack once more before jumping to stand beside his allies sides.

It seemed to be even more furious than before, snarling at the four. Prussia returned the snarl with a growl of his own.

"DIE!" Everyone's eyes widened as the monster rushed them once more, four lights of dark energy forming around its claws. Japan leaped, attempting to block the monster's attack from hitting the others. The monster slashed at him in a crazed bloodlust.

The force of the attack sent Japan flying into the wall, blood seeping from the new claw marks on his chest. He could barely make out the others' cries as he slid to the floor, groaning.

"Japan!" He could hear Italy's screams above the ringing in his ears, though he didn't feel like he could answer without making the pain worse.

Prussia and Germany both ran at the monster with enraged yells, attempting to distract it as Italy sank down next to Japan.

"Come on Japan," the Italian whispered, tears dripping down his face as he shook the Japanese nation. "Get up Japan, GET UP!"

"Ita! Get Japan out of here," Prussia called, blocking another of the Thing's claws.

"B-But-!"

"Go," Germany yelled, his whip cracking as it pierced through the skin on the creature's chest. It snarled, eyes narrowed. It continued trying to reach Italy yet the brothers wouldn't let him move.

"I can't leave you guys here!" Italy's grip on his shoulders made Japan wince.

The Thing grabbed Germany and threw him into his brother. The two fell to the ground in a tangled heap. Its eyes turned to Italy, gaze filled with malice and a sense of victory.

"I-Italy... kun….. Y-You need t-to run…." Japan lifted his head to look up at his friend. He hurt all over….

"Ita's right, Japan. He needs to get you out of here too," Prussia said, slowly standing and raising his sword once more. Italy shook his head.

"NO! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Get out of here," Germany shouted, "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"I'M NOT LEAVING!" Italy's shout made Japan freeze.

"_He refuses to leave," _Japan thought, looking up at the weaker nation. Though, he wasn't sure if that was true anymore.

Italy pulled something out of his pocket, the silver of the knife glittering in the dim light of the room. And he began to chant, the knife beginning to glow with charged energy. Sweat slid down the side of his face.

"YoU wIlL nOt EsCaPe!" Electric bolts were sent flying at Italy. The others watched in shock as their friend swiftly dodged, flinging the glowing knife at the monster. It pierced through the tough skin of the creature's forehead, black blood squirting out and falling to the floor boards. It screeched, landing on its back and fading away, the silver knife landing with a clatter.

Italy was breathing heavily, yet he opened his book quickly and raised a hand.

"Riavvolgere!" In an instant, they all could feel a strange tingle within them. Germany's wound had stopped bleeding and closed up, Prussia's broken ankle was fixed, and Japan's wounds were all healed. The only evidence that they had just been in a fight was the blood that remained.

Italy looked at each of them in turn, smiling.

Prussia helped Japan up as Germany walked over to Italy, an angry expression on his face.

"That was really stupid of you," he said sternly, "You completely ignored my order, risking getting both you and Japan killed!" Italy cringed under the German's intense gaze.

"However…" The nation went silent for a moment before bringing up a hand and patting Italy on the head, "you've proven that you can hold your own in a fight."

The smile that lit up Italy's face grew.

"Ve~ Grazie Germany!"

"I'm so glad that you're alright Ita," Prussia said, pulling the Italian into a hug. "I was so worried when it chased after you!" Japan shot a questioning look to Italy, who flushed.

"I guess I forgot to mention that."

Prussia let go, holding Italy by the shoulders.

"That Thing probably wanted to get rid of you first because you looked like the weakest," he said seriously, "But you just awesomely proved it wrong!"

"Indeed," Japan said, "By the way, where did you learn to do that Italy-kun?"

"Ve~ …. I can't quite remember," the Italian replied, rubbing the back of his head, a cheeky grin on his face. Germany coughed, gaining the others attention.

"What are we going to do from here?"

"Well," Japan began, "The Thing could return at any time. So, perhaps it would be best if we find some place that we can rest safely."

"Yeah," Prussia exclaimed, "Besides, if the four of us stick together, then it won't be as scary!"

"Good idea you two," Germany nodded. Japan pulled the key he found earlier out of his pocket.

"Well, since we need to find a safe place to stay, and I have the master key to the second floor rooms, maybe we could be safe there. For a while, at least." The others grinned, nodding. Japan then glanced over at the mochi. It appeared to have fainted.

"Sorry Mochi-san," he said as Italy grabbed onto his arm to drag him from the room, "We'll come back to help you. Boku wa yakusoku shimasu."

* * *

"Ah~ It's _so_ fun being alone," Prussia said, kicking back in his chair so that his feet were rested on the table. The other three were all sleeping soundly, to which the ex-nation smiled.

"If only I had my computer! Then, I could update my blog…. But I guess just taking pictures of their sleeping faces will have to do."

Using the key Japan had found, the four had unlocked all the rooms on the second floor. In one of them, they had managed to find a first aid kit, which they put into Japan's backpack (Prussia still carrying it, though Japan said that he could). In another, they found a matchbox.

Prussia looked over to the burning fire in the pit by the wall, staring into the flames.

"Their serious faces when we were playing Janken," he murmured, "I couldn't resist. Though, being the one who had to take watch was totally worth it."

The albino sneezed. Blinking into the flames, Prussia felt a shiver run down his spine.

"_That's strange," _he thought, _"I'm suddenly cold. Yet, the fire is still strong…." _

All of a sudden, the door knob rattled. Prussia gasped, falling off his chair. His head had whipped towards the door as it continued to shake furiously.

"_L-Look…. This isn't funny! I-I'm just imagining this…. Right?" _He remained quiet, the rattling becoming louder and sounding more desperate.

"_W-Why aren't those three waking up? Damn it…." _Prussia stood from the floor, drawing his sword as he closed in on the door.

"I won't die, don't worry," he muttered to the peacefully sleeping trio. He smiled before turning back to the door.

"The victor's the one who makes the first move! Be ready to face Prussia, in all his Awesome Glory!" With that, he flung open the door.

Blood dripped to the floor, filling the cracks once more.

* * *

_**You cannot easily set foot into that "mysterious mansion" in your town.**_

_**Because if you anger its former occupant, you will not get away lightly.**_

_**Especially when there is no one there…**_

* * *

The sun was high in the sky, shining down onto the white walls of the building. It stood desolate and alone, empty almost as a group of people pushed past the large thicket to behold the sight of it. Many gasped.

"It's really here, aru," China called out, a smile on his face as he pointed to the mansion. The blonde girl next to him stared with wide green eyes at the building.

"It's here, it's here," Pakistan exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"I thought it was just a rumour," England commented, shoving his hands into his suit's pockets as he followed the two friends at a walking pace. China and Pakistan had ran to the path right up to the gate, their hands gripping the bars as they peered inside curiously.

The other Allies marched up beside them. America had his usual grin on his face, pushing open the gate doors.

"This desolate feel gives it such a nice touch, do you not agree," France asked, tapping his chin as the seven approached the front door.

"I don't think it's very interesting," the quiet voice of Canada said.

"Did you hear a voice just now?" America raised a hand to cup his ear, teasing his brother.

"Oh America, you tease~," Russia smiled, "We didn't hear anything, now did we?"

Canada sighed, but stayed quiet.

"It doesn't look like such a fun place," America continued.

"How about this then," Pakistan said, "We take a quick look and then we can get home before night falls." China nodded in agreement.

"That sounds like a good idea, aru."

"Well then," France exclaimed, "let's go, shall we?"

One by one, the Allies entered through the large doors. It closed behind them with a loud click.

* * *

**Another long chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Hai – Yes**

**Boku wa yakusoku shimasu – I promise**


	6. GunshOts

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or HetaOni.**

**A/N: *Reads reviews* Well Aprincessb1215, yes Pakistan is an OC. Hopefully she won't seem overpowered, no more so than any of the other characters at least. She's gonna get just as beat up, just as emotionally hurt as all the others. If anything, the only thing you'll have to worry about is if it's convincing. It's actually very difficult to write an OC in this particular fandom. **

**I'm on a roll this weekend, eh? Good news for all you readers! Though, for those that have stuck to this story like a loyal boss, please review and tell me what you think. No flaming though. Please. **

**Another long chapter! Yay~! **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

"The rumours say that there are ghosts here, right? That's why no one comes near this place," Russia said, his eyes curiously glancing around the foyer. Behind him, America and Canada were also looking around with interest.

"No wonder," America replied, rubbing the back of his head, "It's such an eerie place after all."

"Huh, that's not like you America," Canada stated, holding his polar bear close to his chest, "Are you scared?"

"Of course not," America exclaimed, "The Hero doesn't get scared! It's just that-! Wait, where's everyone else?"

Russia sighed.

"I believe they said that they'll leave this floor to us," he replied, "And then they went up the stairs to the second floor."

"Oh," America frowned. He then shrugged his shoulders.

"Well then, I guess we should-!"

Loud gunshots could be heard, ringing throughout the mansion.

* * *

On the second floor, the other Allies couldn't help but be impressed by the size of the place.

"It is rather clean, non," France asked, swiping a hand over the wall. When he brought it back, he noted that no dust seemed to cling to his skin.

"It's not as scary as I thought," Pakistan commented. She tapped the floor with her foot, the wooden boards creaking.

"I find it a bit boring, aru," China replied. He watched as Pakistan pouted.

"Of course you would." The Chinese man snorted, shaking his head.

"Oh I don't know about that," France said, turning to look at the other nations, winking.

"An abandoned mansion in the middle of a forest….. Seems slightly scary, non?"

"Not really," China scoffed, "The lights are on too brightly. Plus, this place is too clean. What's scary about that aru?"

"Well, before we found out about the lights and clean floor. Wasn't it scary then?" Pakistan felt a vein pop as her friend just shrugged in nonchalance.

"Umm… Can we go now?" The three looked over to England, who seemed slightly uncomfortable, his eyes glancing around in paranoia.

"What's the matter England? Are you scared~," France asked. The English man glared at the French, a vein popping.

"O-Of course not, you git! It's just that, this place-!"

China sighed, shaking his head as the two bickered. He shared a glance with Pakistan, his neighbour rolling her eyes.

"This is totally silly, aru," he finally said, "There are no ghosts here. You can go back if you want." The Chinese nation then broke away from the group, heading to a room down the hall.

"Are you going to look around on your own," France asked. China stopped, gesturing to the door.

"I'll just peek into this room here," he said, grimacing, "It smells a little bad."

"Why go into a room that smells bad? Where's the logic in that," Pakistan muttered, raising an eyebrow. Her comment went unnoticed as China put his hand onto the knob.

"Isn't that a little risky? H-Hey, wait," England called as China turned the knob. It simply rattled. China frowned, trying again.

"Of course," he sighed, letting go, "the first door I go to is locked." The other nations joined him, all four staring at the door.

"I can't help but feel slightly uneasy about this place," France commented. The others remained silent before Pakistan turned her head to look at England.

"You've been really quiet England. Something wrong?"

The nation shook his head slowly, shuddering.

"No," he finally said, "… There's nothing… Or no one at all." China blinked.

"Russia and the others are on the first floor." England's head shaking sped up slightly, closing his eyes.

"Yes, I know that. What I meant was…. How should I put it?... It feels like everything has been…. Consumed…." The others shuddered involuntarily.

"You mean, that you can't see the usual illusions," France asked worriedly.

"If that's the case, maybe we really should stay away," Pakistan said, "For now at least." China nodded.

"I agree. In that case, I'll take a look upstairs. What are you going to do Opium?" England shuddered once more.

"I don't really want to stay on this floor. I'll go upstairs too." Pakistan pouted before looking over to France.

"Looks like it's just you and me France."

"Ah well," the French man sighed, "I guess it can't be helped." Pakistan turned back to China and England.

"I suppose when you're done upstairs, we'll meet again here." Her fellow nations nodded.

"Alright," China said, smiling, "We'll leave the second floor to you aru."

"Thirty minutes should be enough," England then turned to France, "Don't fall asleep on us France."

The French man grinned.

"You can trust me~ Well, we'll see you later then." France and Pakistan began to walk down the left hall.

"I'll take that side over there," Pakistan said, gesturing to the side with the stairs to the first floor.

"Very well," France nodded, waving to her as she continued down the hall. The Pakistani waved back, turning the corner.

"Are you going to start with that room, aru," China asked, tilting his head towards the hall France was heading towards. The French man nodded once more, grinning.

"Well, that room over there is bad news, oui? I'll leave it for later!"

"We better get going," England said, beginning to climb the next flight of stairs, "If we make America wait, he won't shut up about it." China frowned.

"You really hate it here, don't you? You seem to be very pale aru." The other nation remained silent. China sighed, taking the silence as the only answer that he'll get.

Once they reached the fourth floor, the two made their way to the farthest room. Pushing open the door, they froze.

Some sort of black substance was scattered all around the room. Mixed in with it was the occasional red. They both presumed that the red was someone's blood. China's jaw worked, trying to find words. Finally, he spoke, yet it only came out in a deathly whisper.

"W-What happened in here?" England simply shook his head, his skin turning even paler and his eyes wide. The two carefully entered the room, stepping over the patches of blood to the other side. There, they found a fluffy white round ball stuck in the wall. Their horror was quickly replaced by confusion.

"What's that…. Thing," England asked, raising an eyebrow. China stared before shaking his head.

"Let's just… Leave it alone for now aru. I don't think it's really important."

Leaving the creature alone, they turned, only to see a large chair. England's eyes widened in recognition.

"What a creepy chair aru," China said shivering, "I feel like I've seen it before….." England coughed uncomfortably.

"W-Well," the Brit began, "We've come all the way to the fourth floor…. It seems normal enough, though the air quality is pretty terrible." China sighed.

"This bad feeling aru," he muttered. England looked over to him, eyes narrowed in slight worry.

"Let's get back to the others and go home," China finished, wrapping his arms around himself. England remained silent before giving a curt nod. The two maneuvered their way through the room. A glint of silver caught China's attention.

"Huh? What's that?" England stopped, turning to watch as the Chinese man pulled something shiny from the black liquid. It was a knife, its blade sharp and coated in the liquid. China grimaced at the sticky feel, yet he brought it over to the other nation so they could both examine it.

"This is one of Pakistan's knives," the Chinese man realized, turning the throwing knife in his hands.

"How did it get here though," England asked. The bad feeling that China had seemed to grow as the two stared at the blade.

"I should return it to her," the nation said. England pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to the other man. China nodded in thanks, beginning to clean the knife carefully.

Suddenly, the loud sound of gun shots was heard, making the two nations jump. China winced, dropping both the handkerchief and knife to the ground. He stared at his bleeding hand before looking up to England. The Brit had a frown on his face.

"That sound….," he muttered.

"That sounded like America's pistol," China mentioned, bending down and picking up the blade and handkerchief off the floor, "He fired a lot."

"Then, something must have happened, right?" The other nation frowned, shaking his head.

"In a place like this, aru? If anything, it was probably just Russia."

"They do get carried away sometimes, don't they," England commented, a slight smile touching his lips. China snorted, putting the knife carefully into his pocket. England then frowned once more.

"But…. Something tells me that this wasn't them just messing around. Let's join France and Pakistan and check it out." China rolled his eyes, sighing.

"If you insist."

* * *

"What's taking them so long," Pakistan asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. The two had finished looking around the second floor sans the door with the weird smell and were waiting for the other two to show up. They wanted to talk about some of the things they found, such as the black blood in the first room France entered. It had been ten minutes after the thirty minute mark.

"Do not worry, ma chére," he said, twirling a strand of hair around his finger, "They'll get here when they get here." Pakistan pouted, falling silent.

After a few minutes, she gave a heavy sigh.

"I'm gonna go look for them. You stay here!" France sighed, shaking his head as the girl began making her way up the stairs.

Reaching the third floor, Pakistan frowned as she saw the three doors.

"_Guess I better start looking," _she thought. Turning to the door on her right, Pakistan turned the knob and pushed it open. The room was completely white, the only things in there being a piano and a few shelves that held books. Pakistan frowned, entering the room and locking the door behind her.

The piano room seemed odd to her, yet she couldn't tell what it was. Making her way to the shelves, she began looking at the titles. Frowning when she saw none, the nation pulled a random book off the shelf and flipped it open.

A piece of paper was placed within the pages and she pulled it out. It was folded into three parts and on the front were some peculiar words.

_Duck_

Pakistan raised an eyebrow. Opening to the second part, she continued reading.

_Duck, now!_

Frowning, Pakistan felt like she should follow its instructions, ducking. Suddenly, something flew through the air above her, scattering books everywhere. Gasping, she rolled out of the way of the giant foot that slammed in the place where she was.

"W-What is you?" Pakistan's eyes were wide as she stared up at the giant grey _Thing_ in front of her. She clutched the book and note tightly to her chest, breathing heavily. It grinned, flexing its claws. Pakistan glanced quickly to the door before she was forced to duck again as the monster rushed and swung with its large arms.

Pakistan slipped through the creature's legs, gasping. The monster snarled, kicking backwards. The nation fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She quickly rolled, barely avoiding the claws that were slammed into the floor. The Thing growled, making her squeak in fear as she sprung to her feet and bolted to the door.

Flinging it open, Pakistan slammed it shut behind her. She backed away from the door, struggling to hear any sound to the monster inside, sighing in relief upon nothing reaching her ears. Her back hit the wall behind her and she slid to the ground.

Still breathing heavily, Pakistan looked at the book and note in her hands. Opening the note once more, she began reading.

_To whoever finds this, please note that the above words must be taken into consideration. _

_Are you still alive? Good._

_In this book are instructions for a move that will most definitely prove useful in the future. Read it carefully. I added a few notes that will make it a bit easier._

It wasn't signed. Pakistan frowned. The note was written in her own handwriting. Yet, she never remembered writing it.

"_Weird," _she thought, opening the book to the page she had found the note in. It was a simple move, yet required much pent up grief and anger. She wasn't sure what that meant.

"Pakistan?" Squeaking in surprise, the book fell off her lap and onto the floor beside her. Pakistan quickly drew several of her knives, falling into a defensive stance, ready to throw if necessary.

She relaxed, upon finding that it was simply England and China, both having their hands raised.

"Oh, it's just you," she said, sighing. Placing the knives back into their sheathes, she picked up the book and note from the ground, pocketing the note.

"Where were you? I was just looking for you." The other two looked confused.

"We just left, say, fifteen minutes ago," England stated, raising an eyebrow. Pakistan blinked in confusion, frowning.

"It seemed like longer," she said, "I mean, France and I finished checking out the second floor fifteen minutes ago. We waited for you guys for ten minutes before I came up here to look for you."

"That's weird," China commented, frowning. He blinked before reaching into one of his pockets. Pulling out the object, the nation handed the knife to her.

"We found one of your knives in one of the fourth floor rooms," he explained. Pakistan felt her mouth open into an 'o', taking the knife.

"I never went to the fourth floor. How did it get there?" China shrugged.

"Did you hear the gunshots," England asked.

"What gunshots?" Pakistan watched as England's expression turned even more worried.

"We heard gunshots come from the first floor," China explained, "Are you sure you didn't hear them?"

"Positive," Pakistan nodded. Then she glanced to the piano room door.

"Though, that's probably because of…" She shuddered.

"What is it? Did something happen," China asked, concerned. Pakistan shook her head.

"Maybe it was my imagination but… When I was in there," she pointed to the door, "this giant grey… _Thing_ came and attacked me. I-I don't know where it went." The two men followed her finger to the door, staring at it uneasily.

"By the way," Pakistan asked, turning back to them, "What happened to your hand China?"

The Chinese man looked at it.

"Oh, I was cleaning your knife when we heard the gunshots. When I jumped, I cut myself." He remained silent for another moment.

"It's odd how it's not healed already."

"L-Let's hurry and meet up with France," England finally said. The other two nodded before quickly following behind the Brit down the stairs. At the bottom, they all looked around for any sight of the French man. Sweat dropping, Pakistan threw her hands up in frustration.

"I left him for ten minutes! Ten minutes!" China sighed, patting his friend on her shoulder.

"Maybe he got tired of waiting and went downstairs," England asked, worriedly glancing down the hallway. China slowly nodded.

"Well," he began, "he does get bored easily aru. I'll check the rooms on the second floor to make sure we didn't miss each other. You wait here." He then began walking towards the first room France checked.

"Stay away from that room," Pakistan said, "France said that there was some strange black stuff all over the floor." China stopped, nodding to her with a smile before making his way to the other hall.

After checking the other rooms, which were all empty, China then made his way to the room with the bad smell. Frowning, he turned the knob.

"Huh, that's strange aru. It's unlocked." China opened the door, stepping inside. Looking around, he continued further in, past the dining table and towards the fireplace in the back.

He knelt down beside the burnt wood.

"_So, this is the source of the bad smell," _he thought, brushing the ashes with a finger. He raised an eyebrow, at the sight of something white at the bottom.

"_What's this?" _China pulled out the item, staring and fingering the material. His eyes were wide and his lip quivered.

"T-This is Japan's. I-I'm sure of it! B-But…. W-Why?" He gently touched what he thought was blood, the red staining what was left of the back, front, and right shoulder. His breathing was heavy as he sat there, staring at the bloody clothing. The fire place had the remains of several other objects, yet he didn't bother checking. All that mattered was that he had half of Japan's bloody shirt in his hands, _his own little brother's_ _bloody shirt_.

Unconsciously, China stood, dragging his feet as he left the room, Japan's shirt still in his hand and his eyes staring at the ground in front of him.

Pakistan looked up as China came back, the nation looking pale and worried. England was reading his grimoire, paying no attention.

"China, did something happen?" The Chinese man didn't answer, his shoulders shaking as tears dripped down to the floor.

England looked up as Pakistan walked over to her friend. She looked down to the object in his hands. Reaching, she gently pried the Asian's hands off it, taking it into her hand and examining it, holding China's hands with the other. Her face became pale.

"W-What is it?" England closed his grimoire, putting it back into his bag, "What have you got there?"

Pakistan kept her grip on China's hands as she handed the burnt material for England to take. She then helped China sit down, wrapping her arms around him in an attempt of reassurance. England turned over the red stained garment, a frown on his face. Then, his blood ran cold as his eyes caught sight of a name tag with the familiar kanji and writing of someone they knew.

"T-This must be a joke! I-I mean….. Japan can't be here….. R-Right?"

"Then why is his shirt here?" England looked down at China, the Asian's voice cold and whispering. Pakistan had a worried expression on her face as she rubbed him back.

"Why is my little brother's shirt _here_ of all places, covered in blood and burnt? Why?"

England found that he couldn't answer. When he remained silent, China began to cry, banging his fists on the wooden floor.

"I-I need to find him! This place is dangerous! Something got Japan and he's hurt! My little brother is somewhere here, hurt and bleeding and…..! I need to look for him, I need to find him and heal his injuries and-!"

"Calm down, I say! We need to think rationally," England shouted, "Why would Japan be here? If anything, we were supposed to get here before the Axis, god damn it!"

"That doesn't matter," China yelled back, lifting his head and glaring at the other nation, "What would you do if America was hurt, huh aru? Wouldn't you want to save him too? Wouldn't you-!"

A loud slap stopped the shouting match, the two men staring at Pakistan. The nation had her hand raised, staring at China with a blank expression. The older nation slowly lifted a hand to his cheek, the red palm mark bright.

"When America told us about this place," she began quietly, "What did you do? You spoke with Japan about it first. And what did he say? What did he say China?"

"He said, 'I'll see what I can do'," China replied quietly.

"And we all know that that is what he says when he doesn't want to do something. When we got here, you sent him a text saying 'we're here'. He replied 'Be careful', only once. The text was sent from the meeting place."

"Oh…"

"China, I know you're worried. But it's not possible for Japan to be here before us. We left at noon, right?" China nodded silently.

"Th-Then what is this? These were the same clothes that Japan changed into after the meeting finished," China's broken voice made Pakistan's heart break.

"Why would they be burning in the fireplace? Why?" He finally let out a loud sob. Pakistan hugged him, not saying anything.

"We'll talk to the others," England quietly said, "Japan's shirt, France missing, America shooting at something… We need to talk about this." The two nodded. Pakistan helped China to his feet, the Asian wiping his face with his sleeve as they followed England back down to the first floor.

As they each touched the ground floor, they could hear the faint sound of someone screaming.

"Hey, isn't that… uh…."

"Canada's voice aru?"

"Maybe we should check it out." The three hurried in the direction of the screaming, pushing the door of the kitchen open. And they all froze.

Near the back of the room, Russia stood in front of Canada, his pipe held out in front of him. Canada's polar bear was also crouched in front of them, growling as the giant grey Thing stalked towards them.

"W-What (the bloody hell) is that," both China and England yelled at the same time. The monster's attention turned to them, a grin on its face before it looked back to Russia and Canada. It seemed to be taunting them. Pakistan couldn't move, her eyes wide.

"T-That's the T-Thing I saw e-earlier," she said, shaking. Russia looked over with a serene smile on his face.

"You three took your time," he drawled, "As you can see, we're in the middle of an assault."

"Y-Y-You better g-get out of h-here," Canada added, shaking as he stared at the monster.

It gave a loud roar, interrupting the five's conversation, rushing towards the duo. Just as it was about to slash him, Russia blocked it with his pipe and knocked it back. The Thing stumbled giving the Russian enough time to score another hit and flinging it into the wall.

However, it just jumped right out, running towards the man snarling and slashing with its claws. Russia winced, taking a step back. Blood dripped from the new wound on his chest.

"Heh, that hurt," he said, touching the wound and bringing the bloody finger to his lips. With his tongue, he licked off the offending liquid.

"You're going to pay for that."

"L-Let's give them a hand," England finally said, pulling out his grimoire. China sent the Brit a 'Are you serious?!' look before pulling out his wok and soup spoon. Pakistan followed soon after with her throwing knives.

"Aru, right!"

"Let's go!"

Russia and Canada dodged out of the way of the monster's claws, separating and joining up with the others. Pakistan, China, and Russia ran at the creature, weapons raised. China dodged a claw, leaping up into the air and raising the wok.

"HI~ YAH!" The wok was slammed into the monster's head, making it roar in frustration, swiping at the air in front of it with it fists. China flew backwards into the wall groaning.

Russia ducked a blow to his head, swinging his pipe hard. The metal pipe smashed against the skin of the Thing, making it stumble back. Russia then ducked, letting Pakistan jump over him. In midair, she threw one of her knives, the sharp blade glittering before impaling itself into the monster's arm. This seemed to only make it angrier though, as it snarled with a hate filled glare and struck.

The monster smacked Pakistan back with its fist, the girl slamming into Russia and both falling to the ground in a pile. China stood back up, glaring before rushing at the creature. However, it saw him coming and flexed its claws, grinning hideously.

China barely dodged the first strike, the claw managing to cut his cheek. When he wasn't paying attention, the monster stepped up, grabbing him by the neck and held him in the air, squeezing. China gasped, dropping the wok and spoon to the floor, his hands clawing at his throat as the Thing's grip tightened.

Pakistan and Russia were both up again, once more rushing at the creature. It seemed to use China as a shield, for both of the nations didn't want to hurt their friend in any way.

"A little help would be nice, England," Pakistan called. The Brit nodded, opening his grimoire.

"Bombarda!"

Tension hung in the air, yet nothing happened.

The others stared as England began going through a variety of spells, yet none working. Both Russia and Pakistan looked at each other, sweat dropping before they began their attack again.

China's attempts of escape were failing, his movements slowing down as the lack of oxygen finally reached his lungs. Black dots were filling his gaze, as the only thing he could see were the dark gleaming eyes of the monster. It seemed to be inwardly laughing as its grip continued to tighten, slowly crushing his throat. He gasped and tried to kick, but his legs just wouldn't obey him.

And Pakistan's voice, he could hear her voice calling to him, telling him to hold on, to just keep breathing. And he tried, oh how he tried. But his efforts were in vain.

"Get down!" Everyone hit the ground as the sound of a crack as loud as thunder ripped through the air. The arrow pierced straight through the monster's tough skin, causing it to cry out and drop China to the wooden floor. Black blood rained down, dripping onto the floor and onto the Asian's face. China was breathing heavily as he coughed, clutching his throat.

England turned to stare in surprise at Canada, who held a rather large bow, already placing another arrow and taking aim. The one who was always invisible certainly didn't look invisible now.

Pakistan raised another knife, running at the monster with an angry cry. She threw it, yet missed. Blinking in surprise, she didn't have time to dodge the slash to her back and she fell to the ground next to her neighbour.

Russia raised his pipe to block the monster's next attack, a clang being the only sound heard. The large man gritted his teeth, pushing back with all his strength. Then, the creature let go and Russia was falling forwards, only to be slapped across his face with a clawed hand and sent flying into the kitchen cabinets.

England took a step back as the monster stalked towards him and Canada. The younger nation let the arrow fly, hitting the monster straight in its throat. It growled, ripping it out. Black blood dripped to the ground from the wound, both standing nations wincing.

"You…. Will…. Not…. Hurt them!" The monster spun around, China slamming his smaller body into the Thing's chest. It stumbled, giving the weakened nation time to send several punches at lightning fast speed into its tough hide. The creature was flung back. China shook his hands, hissing as the Thing slowly stood.

"Aiyah," he winced, "That Thing has tough skin aru!"

The monster growled, rushing at China once more. He gasped as the monster's claws raised above his head, swinging down. Suddenly, a white blur jumped in front, claws meeting claws.

"Kumajisa," Canada cried, as his polar bear began to fight vigilantly. The monster quickly flung it away, knocking both England and Canada to the ground.

China began backing up as the monster slowly came closer to him. It raised its claws, about to deal a final strike when Russia quickly stepped in front, blocking it once more with his pipe. Blood was falling to the ground from the Russian's face.

"Kolkolkolkolkolkolkolkol…" China backed away once he heard that sound. Russia wasn't happy.

However, the monster didn't care if Russia was happy or not, for it sent the large man flying once more to the other side of the room. China once more started backing up.

This time, Pakistan was the one to block the attack. Despite the pain she was in from her wound, the young nation still pressed forwards, flinging knife after knife at the creature. It took each blow to the chest, snarling and spitting like an animal. Pakistan was about to throw once more, however the monster smacked her again.

Blood trickled from the cut on her cheek as she and China toppled down. As they slowly stood back up, the monster approached. China grabbed Pakistan by the hand, pushing her behind him protectively. If they were going to die, he wanted to at least protect her until the end.

The monster stood over them, grinning wickedly in triumph. It raised a clawed hand, slashing down…

Only to be stopped by a white blur.

"You will not lay a claw on any of them anymore," the person said seriously.

"J-Japan?"

The nation peered at each of them, one by one.

"Looks like we've all come together at last," he said, "But can you wait for a few more minutes?" A glare appeared on his face, one of pure rage, "I need to deal with this _Thing_ first."

"Will you need help?" Russia winced, clutching his chest, red covering his hand. Japan shook his head.

"There's no need to worry," Japan replied, eyes not turning away, "It did a number on the rest of you, yes? Allow me to pay it back in kind for the injuries that you have sustained."

Japan pushed the monster back, his hands tightly gripping his katana.

"It's quite convenient that you arrived when you did," he said to the Thing, "I certainly needed an opponent to unleash my wrath on!"

The creature snarled, glaring.

"YoU…." The others eyes widened.

"_It can talk?!"_

"WiLl….. nOt….. EsCaPe!" Lightning seemed to appear from thin air, zapping towards Japan. The nation dodged quickly before countering. His katana sliced across the monster's neck before he leapt onto its shoulder and up to its head.

Japan raised his katana, a murderous glint in his eye as he slammed the sword into the monster's forehead. Japan then jumped off, placing his katana back into its scabbard. Its high-pitched wail caused them all to cover their ears before it faded away into nothing.

"Wow," Russia said, giving his serene smile as he limped over, "It looks a bit like Canada now."

"Just…. Say it just disappeared," Canada replied, groaning.

Japan smirked, shaking his head before turning to China. A large black bruise covered his neck. Carefully inspecting it, the Japanese man noted that it was in the shape of a handprint, almost as if someone or something had tried to strangle him. His eyes narrowed in worry.

"Are you alright, China-san?" China coughed before nodding.

"Y-Yeah. Nothing that a little time won't heal." He eyed his brother, who was wearing his World War 2 uniform.

"So you did come here aru." Japan nodded, before turning to England as he cleared his throat.

"Have you fought that Thing before," England asked, "It didn't seem like the first time."

"What are you talking about?" Japan pulled off his backpack, unzipping one of the pockets and pulling out bandages, handing them to China.

"I was under the impression that you fought it before too," he continued, "After all, you were the ones to get here first."

"Well, that's weird," Pakistan said, taking the bandages from China and passing them to Canada, "We haven't even been here an hour."

Japan blinked, frowning and shaking his head.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"When you put it that way," Russia began, "After all, China sent Japan a message, and Japan responded from the meeting place, da?"

"Hai," Japan replied, "Then Italy-kun was saying that he wanted to come too, so Germany-san, Prussia-san, and I came with him but…"

"That doesn't make sense," Canada said loudly, bandaging the struggling polar bear in his arms, "It took us three hours to get here from the meeting place. And we've been here for about an hour. Doesn't that strike you as just a little odd?"

Japan fell silent as the remaining Allies stared at him.

"I guess we have a lot of things to talk about," he finally said, "I know of a safe room on the second floor. We should be safe there, for now at least."

"W-Wait aru!" Everyone turned to China, surprised as he held out the bloody shirt he had found earlier.

"W-What about this? W-Why is it covered in blood? A-Aren't you… Hurt?" Japan shook his head.

"Those are…. Tomato stains." Everyone could practically feel the question marks hovering above their heads.

"Don't worry," Japan said, giving a smile, "I'm not hurt. Let's hurry up and join Germany-san and Italy-kun. Then, I'll explain the situation to you."

* * *

Everyone gathered around the table, the fire burning and keeping everyone warm as they all settled into their seats. All of the Allies had been healed thanks to Italy's new skills (to which they couldn't help but be curious about, yet didn't ask) and they were now awaiting the explanation that Japan would give them.

"Now without further ado," Japan began, clearing his throat.

"First, as you know, I received a message from China-san saying that you had arrived here. Italy-kun," he gestured to the Italian, who stood close to the fire, "thought it would be interesting, and wanted to come as well. So, Germany-san, Prussia-san, and I came here with him." Japan folded his arms behind him, standing at attention. His eyes travelled to each of them in turn before he continued.

"When we arrived, I went to take a look around. However, in the meantime, that monster had attacked them and they scattered."

"W-Were you alright after that?" Everyone turned to look at England, who wore a worried expression on his face, his thick eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, somehow," Italy replied, "For better or for worse, it seemed to be targeting me. But I'm good at running away, so I managed to lose it easily."

"You got away aru? Quite impressive," China nodded before turning to Japan once more.

"Eventually, while we didn't know the true nature of that Thing," he continued, "we all managed to regroup and spent the night in this room, with a sense of security since we had the key to it." More than a few eyebrows were raised, though no one said anything.

"We decided that one of us should keep watch, and Prussia-san kindly took up the task. But, maybe because of this sense of security, the three of us fell into a deep sleep…."

Everyone could feel the air in the room turn cold in anticipation.

"When we woke up, Prussia-san was gone," Japan said, "There were bloodstains in the hallway, so I followed the trail, but…. Eventually…"

"The trail ended," Russia finished, his usual smile replaced by a look of thoughtfulness.

"We tried looking for him," Italy said, idly watching the fire while the others spoke, "but we ended up running into that Thing instead. Germany and I got separated from Japan, but he said that he would be fine and ran with the Whatchamacallit right behind him."

Japan nodded before continuing once more.

"When I lost it, I found Germany-san and Italy-kun in one of the other rooms. I decided that since we didn't want to lose anyone else, I would go look for him. Instead, I found you."

"We've run out of firewood," Italy then said, "Can I burn this wooden box?" He held up the wooden box that they had found earlier. Germany nodded.

"Go ahead," he replied, "We won't be needing it." Italy threw the box into the raging fire, the flames grabbing hold of it and not letting go.

Everyone else nodded in response to Japan's story coming to a close. The Japanese man looked around the room, frowning.

"I thought that France-san and America-kun would have come as well."

England nodded, standing from his seat.

"They did. The seven of us," he gestured to the rest of the Allies, "came here because America wanted to see if the rumors were true. France, Pakistan, China, and myself went upstairs to look around while America, Canada, and Russia stayed on the first floor."

"We had a bad feeling when we were on the second floor," China continued, "So Opium and I went to check out the third and fourth floors while Pakistan and France finished up the second floor aru."

"After a while," Pakistan said, "France and I had finished and we were waiting for the others. I was worried, so I went to look for them. Instead, I ended up finding a note that told me to duck."

"A note," Italy asked. Pakistan nodded.

"It was strange, so I did. Next thing I know, that grey monster that Russia and Canada were fighting had come and attacked me. I got out of there as soon as I could, but it just seemed to disappear, so I assumed it was my imagination."

"When we finished looking," China then picked up, "we left to meet up with France and Pakistan. However, we only found Pakistan and France was nowhere to been seen. Then, I found Japan's burnt shirt in this room and wondered what happened."

"We came back to the first floor only to find Canada and Russia fighting that Thing," England added, "According to them, America had already vanished."

"After the four of you left," Russia said, "the monster attacked us, knocking both Canada and myself out. When we woke up, America was gone."

"We went to look for him, but the Thing attacked us again and that's when we met up with China, England, and Pakistan," Canada finished.

Some of the others blinked, shuddering.

"_What kind of monster was able to knock out Russia?"_

"Where could those gits have disappeared to," England asked in frustration. The room fell silent once more as they thought of all the possibilities that answered England's question.

"We couldn't help but notice," Japan finally said, "But that strange creature….."

"It seems to resemble a friend of America's," Germany finished.

The Allies remained quiet before China finally spoke up.

"Now that you mention it, that Thing does kind of look like it. What's it called again aru?"

"I believe that git named it…. Tommy? What a weird name for an alien," England replied, tapping his chin.

"That makes sense," Pakistan said, smiling in relief.

"Oh, it does," Russia exclaimed. His creepy aura had returned, making the people sitting next to him, Canada and China, shudder.

"So it's _all_ America's doing then, da? After all, he was the one who told us and made us come here in the first place!"

"You're all mistaken." Everyone turned to look at Canada, Kumajiro on his lap, a serious expression on his face.

"You're all mistaken," he repeated, "That's not Tony."

The entire room fell into a deathly silence as they stared at the usually quiet Canadian, the fire crackling behind them.

"Canada…. Are you sure," Pakistan asked, the relief disappearing from her face.

Canada nodded with absolute certainty.

"I live close to America," he said, "So I've met Tony a couple times. They do look alike, I'll give you that, but Tony would never _attack_ America."

"A-Attack aru? It attacked him," China asked, mouth in the shape of an 'o' as he stared. Canada nodded once more, Russia slowly nodding beside him in agreement.

"It was only one hit I believe," Russia said, "But it knocked America into the wall."

"He had remained conscious somehow," Canada continued, "and started to shoot at it. But, it had no effect….. I thought it was Tony at first but then when it attacked him, and America started fighting back for real…. I realized that I was probably wrong."

"So that's why we heard shooting," England exclaimed, China nodding in agreement.

"We tried to help," Russia added, "but we ended up getting knocked out. Like I said earlier, they were gone when we woke up."

"I'm s-sorry Russia, for all the trouble I gave you," Canada sighed, patting Kumajiro on the head. Russia smiled, shaking his head.

"No, no, you were not a burden at all! It's pretty hard to fight when you're protecting someone~ Though, you can thank me by becoming one with Mother Russia, da?" Everyone cringed, though the large man didn't seem to notice as he gave a chuckle before continuing.

"Anyway, since we finally get the gist of what's going on, there are three nations that are missing and we should try to find them. Also, now that we know that America has nothing to do with it, then we can't feel safe since the Thing won't go easy on us." Japan nodded in agreement, serious expression on his face.

"Indeed." After a short silence, Japan's face turned worried.

"Please keep in mind," he said quietly, "that here, in this mansion, we are only humans. We can be easily hurt and we can die if we aren't careful. Be very cautious." (**I was very tempted to just have Japan say "Constant vigilance!" right here, but that would be very out of character, da?**)

The others nodded.

"Right!"

"Oh," Italy exclaimed, something shiny in the fireplace catching his attention.

"What's wrong," Germany asked, getting up from his seat to stand next to the Italian.

"Something was in the burnt box! Ve~ Hold on a second…"

"Be careful." Italy slowly pulled out the key from the box's remains. Suddenly, he winced, throwing it up into the air.

"Hot, hot, hot!" Germany sweat dropped, picking up the key from the floor with the clamp that was beside the fireplace. Placing it onto the table, all the nations leaned closer to get a better look at it.

"A key," Japan exclaimed, a smile on his face. The other nations grinned, cheering.

"We have a new breach!" Japan picked up the key, turning it over in his hands to the label that was on the back.

_Hallway key, First Floor_

He then closed his eyes, throwing the key up into the air and catching it.

"Finding a way out was our top priority," he began, "but first, we have to think of a way to rescue our friends. If we're thorough in our search, I'm sure we can find them. Those three are tenacious people after all, they should be around here somewhere…"

"Friends huh? Sounds interesting," Russia said, smiling his serene smile, "I was caught by surprise before, but the next time I meet that Thing, I ought to thank it for _all_ the trouble that it gave us." Many of the others shuddered at the murderous look in Russia's eyes.

"Let's hurry," England said, "I don't want anyone dropping out." Japan nodded in agreement.

"In that case," Germany said, "we'll split up into three groups, since there's so much to do. And no one can go alone. Each group should have at least two people."

"Yeah! There are too many rooms," Italy added, "There are rooms we can open with a key, rooms we can't open, and rooms that we haven't checked out yet."

"Yes," Japan raised his arm, showing them the watch, "Now, about our unsynchronized watches…"

Everyone froze, their attention drawing away from Japan to the loud pounding on the door behind them. The air had turned ice cold, the nations' shaky breaths showing in clouds.

"So, it found us already," Japan finally said, "This room is no longer safe…"

"Since when was it ever safe," Pakistan asked, leaping from her chair along with the others as they all stared warily at the door.

"Shit," England snarled, "What do we do now?"

"My group will be in charge of dealing with the Thing," Japan finally said, his voice deathly calm as his eyes travelled to each of the nations. Germany-san, Italy-kun!" Japan threw the key to Italy, who caught it, "You two will have to find out where that key goes."

"B-But-!" Germany placed a hand on Italy's shoulder, giving him a reassuring look.

"Right."

"I-In that case," China pulled out his wok and spoon, "I'll fight with Japan aru!"

"Me too," Pakistan said, pulling out her throwing knives.

"Can I join you," Russia asked, pulling out his pipe, "I _really_ have to thank it for _all_ that trouble~!" Japan nodded, turning to look at England and Canada, the only two remaining nations without a group.

"There's a room I want to investigate," England said, "Once your all done with your tasks, meet us in the piano room." Everyone nodded.

The monster crashed through the door, snarling. Japan stood in front of it as it drew nearer until it was right behind him.

"Well, you all have your assignments," Japan said. The monster raised its claws.

"Good luck."

He jumped out of the way, landing on the table. The other groups ran for the door, escaping quickly. Only four remained to fight the monster.

It grinned wickedly, licking its lips.

* * *

**Note: When I refer to China and Pakistan being "neighbours", it's because the two share a border. Pakistan's neighbours also include Iran, Afghanistan, and India, who will be mentioned, though won't be appearing.**

**A wok is a type of pot that is used to make food. My family uses one to make fried rice. I believe you are all familiar with the scene in the series where China totally kicks Germany's and Japan's asses with it. **

**Kumajisa is not the polar bear's name. I believe that what the anime said was "His polar bear can't remember his name, he can't remember his polar bear's name". The polar bear's name is Kumajiro.  
**

**I'm sure you all caught how Japan said that the red on his shirt was tomato stains, yet we all know what happened in the last chapters. Don't worry, there'll be a few heart-to-heart conversations about it in the future. **

**Hai – Yes**

**God….. I should have split this chapter into at least two parts….. Twenty pages! Twenty pages right here! :P **


	7. Three PatHS pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or HetaOni. And from now on, I'm just going to skip the disclaimer, cause I'm pretty sure all of you get the idea, da? Good.**

**A/N: *Reads reviews* *Smiles* Aw~ I'm so glad you like her Aprincessb1215! It means a lot. I usually hate OCs too, so I know where you're coming from. **

**Now, to all my readers, we know where this chapter's going, yes? The three teams have split up. This is what I'm going to do: Each team will have their own chapter. I've been writing some pretty long chapters so I'm going to take a bit of a break with that. Short chapters. **

**Oh no, don't be sad! *Wipes away imaginary tears* It's only for this part, I promise! **

**Now, I have to ask; What is your opinion on 2p Hetalia? Or Dark Hetalia? They're both different. I was thinking of writing another HetaOni story, except it will involve the 2ps. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. It all depends on you. So please give me your opinion, be it through PM or reviews. 'Kay thanks!**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

_**Play which group?**_

_**Japan, Russia, China, Pakistan**_

_**America, France, Prussia**_

_**Germany, Italy**_

_**England, Canada**_

_**Selected: **__**"America, France, Prussia"**_

_**Error occurred**_

_**Nations America, France, Prussia could not be found**_

_**Please select another group:**_

_**Japan, Russia, China, Pakistan**_

_**Germany, Italy**_

_**England, Canada**_

_**Selected: **__**"Japan, Russia, China, Pakistan"**_

* * *

"Well, looks like everyone's escaped aru," China said, swinging his wok experimentally. The creature leapt back as if expecting an attack before glaring in anger. China smirked.

"Everyone except us," Japan added, drawing his katana from its sheath and holding it out defensively.

"Don't make it sound so depressing~!" Pakistan twirled her knives, her eyes never leaving the monster as it slowly got closer. Russia let out a loud chuckle, pipe in hand.

"It's not often the four of us get to do something together~," he said, grinning wildly, "This should be fun~!"

Japan shook his head, sighing.

"I wish that we could work together a little more harmoniously," he said. The monster snarled, rage spiking.

"_I don't think he likes being ignored," _Pakistan thought, smirking.

"If you want the four of us to be all chummy and smiley, aru," China muttered, shifting into a fighting stance, "I have a sinking feeling…"

Russia sighed, twirling his pipe.

"I suppose you're right. A union like this is much better, da?"

"Hey, Japan? Can't you just use that technique that you used before," Pakistan asked, glancing over to the Japanese nation, "It would certainly make this fight go by quicker."

Japan shook his head.

"Iie. Before, I was under the impression that this was all America-kun's doing, so I was a bit exasperated with him. The final straw, if you will. That just happened to be the end result." He shrugged.

"Now that we know that he had nothing to do with it, my anger's gone and I can no longer use it."

"Well, that's a shame aru!" The four dodged out of the way as the monster barrelled towards them. As it slammed into the wall, China turned to look at the others.

"When we get home," he said, "I'll treat everyone to their favourite Chinese dishes aru."

Russia hummed happily as he twirled his pipe once more. A smile spread onto Pakistan's face.

"I can't wait," she exclaimed, clapping her hands lightly together. China smiled in response, a light blush covering his cheeks. The monster rushed them all again, the four jumping out of the way once more.

"I look forward to it as well," Japan said, raising his katana and charging towards the monster. He slashed at its thick skin, tearing a pain-filled scream from the creature's lips. He leapt back to the others and grinned.

"It'll certainly motivate me to escape." The others gave short laughs before their expressions turned serious once more when the monster tore towards them with its claws. Black blood dripped to the floor from its wound, soaking into the carpet and getting trapped in the cracks.

The monster gave another furious roar as it swung at them with surprising new speed. China leapt back onto the table, dodging one of its claws before flying back in a slamming the wok into its head. A loud clang was emitted, a China jumped back once more, learning from his mistake in their first fight.

Pakistan charged in next, ducking under a swinging arm before leaping up and kicking it in the head. It growled as its head snapped back, an arm clawing at the air in front of it. The nation flipped backwards, falling into the splits as Japan leapt above her, sword in hand.

Russia ran forwards, both him and Japan moving in sync with each other as they dodged the flailing monster. Russia grabbed Japan's outstretched hand, giving him extra momentum as he kicked the monster hard in the face, making it stumble back. The Russian then let go, sending the Japanese man towards the creature.

However, the Thing was ready, swatting Japan out of the air and into the wall.

"Japan!" China watched as the other Asian hit the wall and fell to the floor. He glared at the monster.

"You'll pay for that aru!"

It was China and Pakistan's turn as the two rushed towards the creature with fierce determination. Pakistan threw one of her knives into the air, China swinging with his wok and sending it flying into the creature's eye. It snarled as they continued dodging and blocking its fists. With an enraged growl, he finally hit Pakistan, sending her back and hitting the table.

Russia had helped Japan up and the two finally ran in. China ducked as Russia leapt above him, bringing his metal pipe down on the creature's head. Japan spun around him, slashing with his katana before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a talisman. Sticking it onto the Thing's next claw, it howled in pain, the three allies leaping back out of the blast range.

Pakistan rejoined them, wincing as she cracked her back. The other three cringed, before their attention was diverted to the monster once more.

"I think you only made it angrier," Pakistan shouted, flipping out of the way of another attack. The four had been split into two groups, one on each side of the room. The monster turned to each of them. It seemed to be confused.

Russia hummed, a sadistic grin coming onto his face. The others swallowed, nervous. Quickly, he rushed at it, striking the Thing with his pipe.

"This is for giving me that wound earlier!" A loud crack was heard as they heard something in the creature's arm break, "This is for hurting my comrades!" Another crack, much louder than the one before, "And this is for existing!"

Russia swung the pipe across the Thing's jaw, the loudest crack of all sounding as it broke. The other nations' eyes widened as the offending muscle flew off and landed near the wall. Blood fell down like Canada's Niagara Falls. China, Japan, and Pakistan all looked on in horror, before shaking their heads and nodding to each other. The three charged.

China smacked the monster with his wok, making it stumble as Japan and Pakistan got to work. The female nation slid under its legs while Japan jumped over its arms. When Japan landed next to China, a bloody limb fell to the floor while blood pooled from the deep cut Pakistan had given it.

"It won't die until we hit its forehead," Japan reminded, raising his katana once more. Black blood decorated his white uniform. The others were in similar condition, all breathing heavily.

It roared, the sound gurgling in its throat before it rushed Pakistan and Russia. The female rolled out of the way, only to be slammed into by Russia as the monster hit him. The two toppled to the floor as China and Japan made their move.

China ducked under the creature's arm only to be met with its foot. A loud crack was heard as the Chinese man's nose broke, red finally mixing with black when it hit the ground. He fell backwards, hands dropping his weapon as they were brought up to his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Japan was already there, blocking the monster's next attack and beginning to chant.

His speed was increased, dodging the monster's remaining limbs and slicing quickly. Russia jumped back into the fray, his face deathly serious, anger radiating all around him. The room seemed to get even colder, if it was possible. Pakistan moved in as quickly as she could, her ankle having been twisted when Russia slammed into her, helping China get out of the range of the battle.

"Kolkolkolkolkolkolkol…" Japan could feel his blood chill, eyes widening. Quickly, he moved out of the way as Russia swept past him, pure rage emitting from the area around him.

Japan quickly ran over to where Pakistan and China were, knocking over the table and hiding all three of them behind it.

"J-Japan, w-why," Pakistan asked. However, he simply shook his head and she fell silent as the winds in the room started picking up. The temperature dropped even colder than it was before, making the three shudder as the only sound they could hear above the sleet and hail was Russia's "kolkolkol's".

After five minutes, the wind died down and the three nations peeked above the side of the table. Russia stood above the dismembered monster, cold glare in his eye as he smiled his serene smile once more.

The whole room was a mess, they knew that. However, it seemed to have gotten worse after Russia's attack.

Black blood littered all over the room, gathered around pieces of its body. Pieces of limbs and grey flesh had been flung all over the room. It seemed like the only clean spot left was where Russia stood. They shuddered as they drew out from their safe place behind the table.

The monster snarled as they drew nearer. Russia looked over to smile at them.

"Would you like to finish it?" China blinked in surprise before nodding. Japan helped Pakistan limp over. She held out one of her knives and the Chinese man took it. He walked up to the creature, his eyes growing dark. Once he stood in front of it, he raised the knife above his head. Slashing it downwards, he struck its forehead again and again until it finally gave its last scream before fading away before their eyes.

"I'm glad that's over," Pakistan murmured, taking her knife back. China quietly promised to clean it later before speaking louder, hand still covering his nose as blood trickled down his chin.

"But it's beird why it disabbears like that," he said, "We can'd tell if we won or not." The other three winced at their friend spoke, yet didn't say anything. Japan dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which China gladly took.

"At least it won't pollute the environment," the Japanese man added. Russia chuckled.

"Not quite~," he said, rolling his shoulders, "Maybe this'll never end and that Thing will keep appearing! It's getting really tiring….." Russia then walked over to the bed, sinking down onto its sheets.

"Are you alright Jaban aru?" Japan shook his head, helping Pakistan limp to one of the decently clean chairs in the room. Setting her down, he then continued.

"I'll have a few bruises, though it's nothing that time won't fix." Japan ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "Our opponent seems to have gotten stronger than before. If I had fought it alone….."

China frantically shook his head, raising one of his hands to Japan's shoulders.

"Don't tink like tat aru! Blease don't tink like tat!" Japan gave a small smile, patting his hand.

"Arigato anyways, China-san." China frowned, looking to the floor before looking back up to Japan.

"I never got to ask but…." Japan raised an eyebrow.

"Why was your shirt covered in tomato? You really scared me Jaban. I really tought it was blood."

"_I knew he would ask,"_ Japan thought, _"But, letting him worry…. I don't want him to worry."_ So, Japan gave a reassuring smile.

"When Germany-san, Italy-kun, and I ran into the monster this morning, Italy tried throwing tomatoes at it." He brought a hand to the back of his head, "It obviously didn't work, but it was worth trying. After that, the smell was really bothering me, so I threw it into the fireplace."

"It was a good ting tat you had your World War do clothes with you," China replied. Russia stood from the bed, beginning to walk around the room.

"Are you sure you're alright," Pakistan asked the two Asian nations. They both nodded.

"Once we meet with the others, Italy will be able to heal us," Japan said.

"Can you walk aru," China asked, pulling up another chair and sitting in it next to his friend. She smiled reassuringly.

"I can walk," she replied, "Though it still hurts. I'll be fine when we meet up with the others."

Pakistan didn't mention the fact that it was in the odd way she landed combined with the added pressure of Russia's weight that caused her ankle to twist. The other two nations thought it wise and decided not to comment on it either.

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash heard from the other side of the room. All three whipped their heads around towards the noise. Russia smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. In front of him was an open drawer and a clock lay broken on the floor.

"What happened Russia?" Japan quickly made his way over to the larger nation, looking up at him. Russia gestured to the clock.

"Um… The clock here was moving like crazy… It was too loud, so I broke it." Japan knelt down, fingering the smashed fragments on the wooden floor.

"I'm sorry if it was some kind of clue," Russia continued, "but it really was so loud…"

"What's a clock doing here," Pakistan asked, "I thought that we couldn't tell the time in this place since our watches don't match up."

"That's what I thought too," Japan muttered, lifting up one of the pieces so he could see it better.

"Tat's really strange aru," China said, "Even though we came ahead of Jaban's groub, they've been here longer." He looked at his watch, confused, "How odd…"

"What is it?" Russia and Japan looked over curiously. Pakistan and China were peering at the Chinese man's watch. Pakistan then lifted her own sleeve to check hers.

"My watch says tat it's 11:42 bm," China said. Pakistan nodded in agreement.

"Mine too." Russia pulled his watch out of his coat pocket as Japan rolled up his sleeve.

"My watch is showing the same time as both of yours," the Russian same, pocketing the device once more. Japan's eyes had widen as he stared at his.

"I-It's 11:42 pm on mine as well! But it was 6:00 just a moment ago…" The four fell into a deep silence.

"Do you think…" The three looked at Russia, the man tapping his chin.

"… that maybe it was because I broke the clock?" The other three took a moment to ponder the idea. Then, China spoke up.

"Tat's bossible," he said, "At least in this room the time is right."

"Maybe," Pakistan added, "we can get the flow of time back to normal if we break the clocks!"

"Then we'll break the clocks in every single room we go into," Japan nodded, "If we do that, then maybe… Maybe… We can help… France… and America…. Right?"

The sound of someone's phone ringing filled the room, making everyone jump in surprise. Russia frowned, reaching into another pocket and pulling out his phone. China helped Pakistan stand as the two joined Japan and Russia, huddled around the object. They all wore confused expressions.

"Russia, how is your bhone working," China asked. The other nation grinned.

"Amazing~," he exclaimed, "as soon as the time was fixed, my phone began to work!" Then he frowned.

"… Or not. The antenna isn't up. I suppose I should answer it." He flipped it open, hitting the speaker button so the others could hear.

"This is Russia. Who is it?" For a moment, it was silent. Then the sound of a lone note was heard before the caller hung up. Russia closed it, shoving the phone into his pocket, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Could it have been a bug, or someting aru," China asked.

"Is there such thing as a phone bug," Pakistan responded, raising an eyebrow.

"What we just heard was a piano," Japan replied, tapping his chin.

"In that case," Russia began, "Let us return to England since we have nothing else to do here."

The other three nations nodded.

"Indeed. If all goes well," Japan said as they made their way from the room, the Japanese nation picking up China's wok and spoon from the floor, "Germany and Italy should meet us there. Let's put everything in order here and hurry."

* * *

**Iie – No**

**Well, that's part 1. Now, I might not update right away for the next few days. School after all comes first, unfortunately. And I'm usually too tired to type. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! **


	8. Three PatHS pt 2

**A/N: So, I'm back~! Hello readers! *Head slams down* I feel so~ tired! This week has been exhausting~! The only real things keeping me going are my two best friends: Fanfiction and Tumblr. **

**Yes, I have a Tumblr. Who doesn't? *Shrugs* If you want, you can follow me at PoisonousFJumper dot Tumblr dot com. Also, you can follow my friends (not saying names) myheartsegg (she's also on Fanfiction, though I wouldn't read some of that stuff unless you love Hentai.), wildimaginate, ale-san25, and yeon-e. I'm pretty sure they won't mind getting some new followers too. Don't say it was me though. *Winks***

**Another good blog to follow would be wangyaohetaoni. Just so bloody awesome~ **

**Anyways….. News about 2p HetaOni fanfic! Aprincessb, thank you for reviewing with your opinion! China is my favourite character, yet even I have to admit that I really enjoyed giving him a broken nose. I really love the 2ps too, they're just so awesome! With this in mind, since you're the ONLY ONE who reviewed, and I really want to write that fanfic, I'll do it! Though, I want to finish this one first… Which I should probably get started with now. Okay then.**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

_**Play which group?**_

_**Germany, Italy**_

_**England, Canada**_

_**Selected: **__**"England, Canada"**_

* * *

England and Canada glanced around the third floor nervously from the staircase. Finding the area clear, the two made their way to the piano room, tense as the sounds of battle from the floor below echoed up to them. England placed a hand on the door knob, nodding once to Canada before opening it.

The two nations entered the room cautiously, and upon realising that it was empty, breathed heavy sighs of relief.

"Well then," England said, rubbing his hands together, "Let's examine this room before the others get here, shall we?" Canada nodded, setting Kumajiro onto the floor.

As the Brit made his way to the bookshelves, Canada took a seat at the piano, examining the keys.

"This is strange," he said. England looked over to him, raising one of his bushy eyebrows.

"How so?"

"The keys," Canada replied, fingering one with a red number nine on it, "It has these strange numbers on it." England remained quiet, thinking.

"Was there something that we needed numbers for?" Canada paused before shaking his head. England huffed, tapping his chin as he turned towards the books once more.

Canada stared down at the keys, Kumajiro placing his head on the seat near his master's hand.

"_Numbers," _he thought, _"They must be a code for something….. Something that uses numbers…. Numbers…. Puzzles…. Security, too. So, security breach…. But this house isn't very high-tech, so…. Maybe a safe or something?" _

"Hey," England called. Canada's head snapped up to look at the older nation.

"The books in this room are nothing special," the Brit said, "I'm going to check out the room next door. There are a lot of books over there, so I'll leaf through them and see if there's anything useful." Canada nodded.

"Oh, okay. Just be careful." England waved before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Canada's gaze returned to the piano. His brow furrowed.

"Um…. What was I thinking about again," he asked himself out loud, "I forgot it when England talked to me….."

He stood, tapping his chin as he paced back and forth, Kumajiro looking up at him with a curious expression and following his every move.

"First, the piano," Canada muttered, "God, America's always getting us into trouble. Why can't he be a bit more considerate? I mean-." He stopped, tapping his chin as the door opened and closed behind him.

"Oh, is that you England," Canada asked, sighing, "I'm sorry. I haven't finished looking here yet. Oh right!" He snapped his fingers, turning.

"We were told not to go anywhere alone, re…. mem…. ber…..?" Canada froze, taking a small step backwards, his mouth falling open.

The giant grey Thing was standing in front of him. Its black eyes were piercing as they stared directly at him.

"_Wha-wha-wha-wha-what-?" _Canada shook, breathing heavily in fear. Kumajiro started to growl, his master slowly dropping onto one knee and covering its mouth with a gloved hand. He remained silent, watching carefully as the monster began to circulate the room.

"_D-Does it even s-see me?" _Canada took a deep breath.

"_Why does this always happen to me? M-Maybe the others were all….. No! I can't think like that! W-What should I do?" _Kumajiro remained silent, looking up at him in confusion. Taking a deep breath, Canada thought of a brilliant idea, closing his eyes.

"_I….. Am a piano," _he thought, tightly gripping Kumajiro's fur, _"I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…. I'm a piano…." _

Canada opened his eyes. The monster turned around. Thinking that it saw him and was about to attack, the Canadian did the only thing that was warranted in this situation. He fainted.

* * *

"_I…. I can't see anything…. Anything except…. The dark…."_

"Hey! Canada!"

A hand was raised and brought down, the harsh sound of skin hitting skin echoed in the room.

"Wake up, you bloody wanker!"

Another slap and Canada groaned.

"Open your eyes!"

Canada did, blinking away the fogginess. England was above him, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. The Brit slipped on the Canadian's glasses. The nation sat up, holding his head. England was kneeled in front of him.

"W-What h-happened?" England shook his head, grabbing Canada by the shoulders.

"I don't know! I came back and I saw you lying on the floor near the piano!" Canada looked down to the ground.

"I-I…. Ah…."

"You scared me! Did something happen?"

Canada glanced back up. England's expressions kept changing, first becoming angry and then becoming worried. Canada took a quick look around the room. Kumajiro had his head in his master's lap, nuzzling his hand. The Canadian smiled, petting the polar bear's head. He returned his gaze to England.

"N-Not that I can remember," he stuttered, not used to the attention he was getting, "Though…. Since the time is strange here…. You probably didn't run into it…."

"Run into…. What," England asked. Canada shook his head, shuddering. He then groaned, bringing a hand up to his head.

"My head hurts," he muttered before saying louder, "I…. I don't think that creature will be coming in here for a while..."

England immediately got what he was trying to say, about to ask him question after question before Canada shook his head once more.

"That's all I'm going to say." England's worried look didn't disappear, but he nodded just the same.

* * *

**Really short chapter here…. :P **

**Being Canadian myself, I had a bit of a hard time choosing between doing the "Pour Maple Syrup" option or the "Pretend to be a Piano" option. I chose to use "Pour Maple Syrup" in my version of the game, so why not use "Pretend to be a Piano" in my fanfiction? *Shrug* That's my reasoning at least. **

**Anyways, next chapter might come out this weekend. Bye~**


	9. Three PatHS pt 3

**A/N: Hello everyone! How are you today? Good? Good. God, I can't even type these chapters when my friends just continue to REBLOG SHIT! My life has been ruined by Tumblr. And I don't effing care. **

**So, this will be the last part of the Three PatHS, Germany and Italy I'm sure you remember. **

**Now, about the 2p HetaOni fic; I might do that, but I also had an idea for just another 2p Hetalia fic. When I do end up doing that, I hope you enjoy how I write my 2ps (especially China). Some of them will be a little more than crazy. *Winks***

**Alright then! Now that that's over with, thank you Aprincess for reviewing again. I'm glad that you'll take the time to review (Unlike any of your fellow readers grr…). It's nice to know that you liked Kuma protecting Canada. Hope you like this chapter too!**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

**Play which group?**

_**Germany, Italy**_

**Selected: **_**"Germany, Italy"**_

* * *

Italy was bent over on his knees, gasping for air. Germany was right beside him, standing up straight and making sure that the coast was clear. He would glance over to his Italian friend slightly worried, but would then resume his post.

When Italy had caught his breath, Germany walked over to him. Grabbing onto his arm, Germany guided Italy down the stairs to the first floor.

"G-Germany?! Ve shouldn't we help them?" Germany stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning to look at his friend.

"No," he replied, "Japan and the others can handle themselves, I'm sure. If anything, we must complete the mission that was assigned of us. To win, you must know your enemy as well as you know yourself." Italy fell silent before sighing.

"Ve~ Alright…. But if we do end up running into that Whatchamacallit, I'd rather just run away." Germany nodded.

"Duly noted." The nation looked around the floor, thinking.

"In any case," he finally said, "let's search these rooms once more and then meet up with England and the others."

Italy nodded in agreement, giving one of his silly grins.

"Okay then! Let's do our best Germany!" The other nation gave a small smile before he began to follow the Italian around the first floor.

Once Japan had told them about how Italy had been wandering around the house by himself, both Germany and Prussia were shocked. Their Italy did what? But in any case, it did come in handy. Italy seemed to know the house rather well as he quickly led the German around.

The two had entered what appeared to be a Japanese styled room. Germany hadn't heard Japan mention it, so he assumed that his Japanese friend just hadn't had the time to investigate this area. Italy made his way to the first door on the right with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Ve~ Germany? Can we try the key on this door?" The Italian pointed at it. Germany sighed, shaking his head as he reached into his pocket and pulling out the key they had found earlier. He handed it to Italy, who then placed it in the key hole.

A loud click was heard, making both of them jump in slight surprise. The door in front of them swung open, creaking. They remained silent before Italy clapped his hands together, smiling.

"Ve~! Look Germany, look! The key worked!" Germany blinked as Italy skipped through the now open door, sighing before he followed.

The two peered around curiously. As they continued further in, Germany couldn't help but notice that the air seemed to get colder. He shuddered.

"_This feeling," _he thought, _"It is like we are….. Being watched. But by who? Or….. By….. What?" _He then gasped, grabbing Italy's arm as the Thing came bursting out of the closet.

"Run! Go Italy!" Germany pushed the startled Italian through the door and the two friends took off at break neck speed down the hall.

The monster chased after them, snarling and snapping its jaws at the backs of their heels. It swung its arms at them, sharp claws glittering under the hallway lights. Italy grabbed Germany's arm and pulled him towards the bathroom. He then slammed the door in the monster's face, flipping the lock shut with more force then was necessary.

They both panted heavily, falling to the floor. Whines and groans were heard from the other side before they fell quiet. Germany paused, feeling the air around him. It had gotten warmer, the same temperature it was before they entered the other room.

He gave a heavy sigh. Italy sat beside him, looking up.

"Germany? Are you hurt? Is there any injuries that I could heal?" Germany turned to look at his friend. The Italian's face was tired from running (Or was it something else?), his breathing shallow. The nation shook his head.

"No thank you, Italy. I'm fine," he replied. Italy remained worried, however, he nodded as he climbed to his feet. Germany followed, turning to look at the door.

"Do you think it's gone," he asked. Italy gave a determined nod.

"It's gone," he replied, closing his hand around the knob. Germany was about to stop him, however, Italy had already opened the door. The creature was gone.

"Come on, Germany," Italy called, running back over and grabbing his friend's arm once more, "We need to find whatever we need to find before we meet up with the others!" Germany nodded, letting his Italian friend drag him to the kitchen.

Finding the cellar door unlocked (with much suspicion), Germany and Italy began to search around, taking books off the shelves and placing them back when they didn't find anything. They had made sure that they locked the door, just in case.

After a while, Germany gave a sigh, wiping the brow of his forehead when Italy let out an exclaimed shout.

"What is it Italy?" Germany turned around, drawing his whip in case one of those Things had found them again when he just noticed Italy pointing at the shelf he moved.

"Look Germany! Look! A safe!" The German made his way over, peering at the wall that the other nation was pointing at.

There was indeed a safe, golden in colour. Italy tried opening it before giving a heavy sigh.

"Ve~ It's locked~!" Germany shook his head.

"If it wasn't," he began rubbing his forehead as Italy continued to push and pull on the knob, "Then there wouldn't be a point to it." He leaned in closer, Italy moving out of the way.

"It looks like a four-digit combination," Germany said thoughtfully, tapping his chin, "We still don't have enough information. Let's investigate a bit more before we return to the others."

"Ve~ Alright…" The two left the room, beginning to search the surrounding area. Italy had begun to open the closets at the back of the room, much to Germany's dismay. The older nation simply sighed before returning to look around.

He looked up when Italy's shadow fell over him, the Italian grinning. He was holding what appeared to be a ripped sheet of paper.

"Look what I found Germany~" He exclaimed, "It looks like the one that Japan showed us earlier, see?" Italy pointed at the side, which had two square boxes, one red and one yellow. Germany took the paper, tapping his chin. He then gave Italy a small smile, nodding.

"Good work Italy. Now, with this, we can re-!"

A loud ring filled the silence, both nations jumping in surprise. Shaking, Italy reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone.

"W-Well," Germany coughed, "That's odd. I thought our phones didn't get signal here. Try answering."

Italy looked at the screen, flipping it open.

"It's a number withheld call….," he muttered. Lifting the phone to his ear, Italy took a deep breath.

"C-Ciao?" The silence was interrupted by the abrupt slamming of a note in his ear before the caller hung up. Italy's expression was confused as he closed the lid and placed the phone back in his pocket.

"What's wrong Italy," Germany asked. Italy shook his head.

"I'm not sure….," he replied, biting his lip, "I heard a sound, and then the call was cut off."

"A sound?" Italy nodded.

"The sound of a piano! It was only one note though…. I wonder what that was about?" Germany shook his head, putting the piece of paper they found into his coat pocket.

"Well, whatever it was, we can sort it out with the others. Let's regroup." Italy grinned, saluting.

"Right-O!"

* * *

"-and by breaking the clocks," Japan continued, "we adjust the time… So it is imperative that we do this. We have broken the clocks that were on the 2nd and 1st floors. Now, the only ones we need to break are the ones on the 3rd and 4th floors."

All the nations had regrouped in the piano room, giving each other the debriefs of their missions. The group that Japan led had just informed their colleges about the clocks. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Italy lifted up the piece of paper that he and Germany had found earlier, waving it.

"We found this weird scrap of paper! And then a safe inside the room in the kitchen!" Many raised eyebrows. Canada gasped, turning to the piano.

"M-Maybe the numbers here are… A hint to the safe's combination!" The others began whispering excitedly.

"In that case," Russia began, "we should figure out this code and then open the safe, da?" The others nodded in agreement.

"They seem to be a perfect match," England said, "Try sticking them together."

"I have some tape," Pakistan called. She then reached into her jacket pocket and pulling out a roll. Tossing it to Japan, the Asian took Italy and Germany's scrap and taped the two together.

Suddenly, everyone jumped as the sound of a phone ringing interrupted the excitement. England pulled out his phone in confusion.

"S-Sorry," he muttered, "it's my cellphone." China raised an eyebrow.

"Again aru? Russia's rang earlier." Italy waved his hand.

"Same here! We heard a piano!" England frowned.

"A piano? Well, I suppose I'll answer it." The Brit flipped the phone open. The note was heard before the caller hung up.

"That sounded a bit different from the note that Russia heard earlier," Pakistan commented. Japan nodded, turning to look at Italy.

"Did you hear a different note as well, Italy-kun?" The Italian nodded.

"Yeah, it was different."

England groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"One note each. That's the only thing the calls have in common!" He sighed.

"But," he then said, "it's most likely a huge hint. We should solve this all one by one."

"Yes," Japan said, tapping his chin, "If we do that, we should be able to meet up with France-san and America-kun soon. Though," he shrugged, "they'll probably be mad at us for taking so long."

"Wait," Pakistan then said slowly, "What are you talking about?"

Japan looked over to her in confusion. The others stared, making the nation uncomfortable.

"Did I…. Say something wrong?"

"You said…. 'Something wrong'," England said, standing from his seated position on the floor, "Was it on purpose? I mean, not that I care to correct you but…. Poor Prussia."

"Perhaps," China said, tapping his chin, "You forgot to mention Prussia earlier as well aru." Japan blinked, looking down.

"Yeah, why'd you say France and America, Japan? Aren't we here to save Prussia and France," Italy asked, "Why'd you say America?"

"What?!" Canada and most of the other nations stare on in confusion. Pakistan also stood.

"What's going on," she asked, "We're only here to save France, aren't we? I mean, I could've sworn that Prussia and America didn't come …."

"C-Come on now," England said turning his head to look at her, "What's wrong with you? The one we're trying to save is America! Neither France nor Prussia came to this place!"

"Only… America," Japan asked, standing to stare at the other two evenly.

"No… Wait," he shook his head rapidly, "America-kun said at the meeting place that he wanted to come…. And I said that I would come with him…. So I came here with America…."

"Ve~?!" Italy leapt to his feet, eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong with you Japan? The three of us came here with Prussia, remember? America didn't come, and France got separated from Russia and the others…"

"That doesn't make sense," Pakistan exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure that I came here with only France, and after we split up, I couldn't find him anywhere!"

"You guys aru…," China muttered, gaze shifting back and forth.

None of the four nations backed down, all unwilling to admit that they might be mistaken.

"I'm pretty sure America was the _only one_ to disappear," England said, fists clenching, "Why do you keep bringing the other two up?" Japan shook his head.

"What on earth is going on?"


	10. PaSswoRD

**A/N: Hello readers! How are you all? Good? Good. Now then….**

**We are finally getting further into the story, I'm so happy! Now, if only I could say the same for my playthrough…. I feel like a wimp, but Imma REALLY hating that random chase! Apparently, the Thing would continue to chase you even in cut scenes. *Shrugs* I don't know if that's true or not, you tell me. **

**Aprincessb, I'll have you know that I ALWAYS feel special. *Winks* But thanks for reviewing anyways! **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking" or talking in Flashbacks_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan withdrew from the group as silence reined from his statement. He quietly told Germany that he would search for the clock in the room before heading to the shelves of books lining the walls.

"A-Am I wrong," Italy asked, fingers pulling at his hair, "Japan did come with us, right?"

"Maybe correcting time caused some sort of disturbance?" Germany patted Italy's shoulder.

China looked over to Japan.

"You do remember fighting with me, Russia, and Pakistan, right aru?" Japan snorted as he scanned the lines of books.

"I'm not that forgetful yet, you know." Russia chuckled, shaking his head.

"You two are so old~!" China glared at the larger nation.

"I came here with France, didn't I? Or was it Russia, America, and France?" China's attention was brought to the shaking Pakistan.

He patted to the spot on the floor next to him. The Pakistani sat down, leaning into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He quietly whispered to her in Chinese as the meeting continued.

"I came here with Japan, didn't I," England asked, rubbing his forehead, "Or, was it someone else?"

"What on Earth is wrong with everyone," Canada asked, tightly clutching Kumajiro to his chest. The polar bear didn't seem to mind, for he was also watching the argument as it slowly dissolved.

Japan had made his way to a dresser that was along the wall, opening the many drawers. He gave a small smile, pulling out the clock. He then dropped it onto the floor, the glass smashing and the ticking stopping. Everyone looked over before continuing their discussion.

"There," Japan said, "One more to go." He then gasped as orange overtook his vision.

* * *

_The three look up to the large windows. America waved his arms enthusiastically._

"_See, I told you England!" He turned to the Brit, pointing to the building behind him._

"_The rumors were true!" Japan smiled, shaking his head. England winced, rubbing his ear._

"_Keep it down, won't you? You're so loud!" America scoffed, turning to Japan and grinning._

"_I'm not doing anything wrong, am I Japan?" _

"_No comment," Japan replied. He then led the way into the mansion, pushing open the front doors before the others could reply._

* * *

Japan sighed, rubbing his head.

"_Yes, it really was England and America I came here with. We said that, then we came in and-!" _The memory morphed in front of his eyes.

* * *

"_So," Prussia said, hands on his hips, "This is it? Are Ita and West really in this place?" Japan nodded._

"_Indeed." It was silent before Prussia looked over to the Japanese man with amusement in his expression._

"_You're thinking 'This sucks', aren't you?" _

_Japan stuttered in denial. Prussia laughed arrogantly before leading the way into the mansion._

* * *

Japan frowned, rows furrowing. He groaned as his headache got worse.

"_No, that's not it…. I came here….. With Prussia-san! We decided to come so that we could pick up Germany-san and Italy-kun so…. No, wait. This isn't it… This memory is wrong." _

Prussia was quickly replaced by China and France.

* * *

_China was staring out to the gates as France and Japan looked up at the mansion and its white walls. _

"_So this is the mansion that America told us about," France asked, one hand on his hip while the other held a rose he had picked up to his nose. China looked back over to them, nodding._

"_That's right aru! Let's hide before the others get here and give them a fright!" Japan sweat dropped._

"_China-san…. Even if they didn't do the same to get back at you…. And even if it weren't this mansion, you should at least be a little more reasonable…." China pouted before looking back out to the horizon. He then grinned, grabbing both nations by their sleeves and pulling them to the door._

"_It's now or never," he exclaimed, "Time to get ready! He's coming this way with Italy!" _

_France let out a laugh, looking over to Japan._

"_Wouldn't it be nicer if we just made something to eat together?" Japan nodded in agreement, small smile on his face._

"_Definitely…"_

* * *

Before Japan could react, the scene changed again.

* * *

"_It clearly looks like something is going to come out of it though," Japan muttered, shaking his head. Russia chuckled._

"_True~ So, are they really in this place? We should check, da?" Prussia snorted, grabbing Japan and pulling him into a head lock. _

"_You go ahead Russia," he said, grinning as Japan struggled to get free, "Me and Japan are just gonna chill here and wait for you!"_

"_Aww~ you're so mean! Come on, if all of us go, then we can give the others a good scare, da?" Pakistan, France, and China all snickered at the thought of scaring Germany._

"_Umm, aren't you forgetting someone," Canada's timid voice asked. Japan finally managed to get free, backing away from Prussia until he was next to the Canadian._

"_Prussia-san, Russia-san, feel free to go ahead. Canada-san and I will be waiting here while we have some tea." Pakistan let out a loud laugh. She grabbed both Canada and Japan, dragging them to the mansion front door._

"_Come on you scaredy-cats! Time's a-wasting!" The others followed, chuckling as the two trapped nations struggled to break free from the Pakistani's grasp._

* * *

Once more, the scene changed, and Japan's headache let up considerably.

* * *

_"Ve~! It's really here~!" Italy stared up at the large marble white building with wide eyes, a hand brought up to cover his eyes from the setting sun's glares. His companions also stared, their own expressions varying from surprise to disbelief._

_"I thought it was just a rumour," Japan said, crossing his arms, his eyes travelling from window to window, the dark contrasting with the white. "I never thought that we would actually find it."_

_"It has such a desolate feel," Prussia added, a grin on his face. "Not bad, not bad at all~!"_

* * *

"_This memory," _Japan thought, watching the scenario play out before his eyes. Everything was as he remembered; Germany's reluctance, Italy's and Prussia's excitement.

The memories faded, leaving Japan on his knees as he stared down at the piano room floor. He could feel someone shaking his shoulder, so he looked up in confusion.

Italy looked concerned as the others began to crowd around, also worried.

"Are you okay, Japan," Italy asked, "You kinda just fell down after you broke the clock." The nation thought briefly about telling them about what he saw, but shook his head as he decided against it.

"I'm fine," Japan replied, getting to his feet, "I suppose I just felt a bit dizzy is all." Italy frowned, but nodded. China wasn't as easy though. He pushed past everyone, grabbing onto his brother's hand and pulling him back to the where the circle was.

Pakistan hadn't moved from her spot, so when China plopped Japan down next to her, she immediately wrapped her arms around him in a hug. China then also sat, hugging his brother close as well. The others chuckled as Japan blushed before taking their own seats once more.

"Anyway," Germany cleared his throat, "As I was saying before Japan collapsed, how about we just figure out this puzzle instead of arguing with each other?" He lifted up the taped together papers so that everyone could see.

"If we don't, we might never find the others (everyone noticed how he didn't mention names) or escape."

"Fine," England pouted, crossing his arms.

"The keyboard has four colours," Canada said, "and each of those colours match the coloured rectangles."

"But we only received three phone calls," Pakistan added, her arms still wrapped around Japan, "so we'll have to wait until we get the last one."

Almost as if on cue, Germany's phone rang.

"There it is," Russia muttered. Germany pulled out his phone, yet didn't answer. China got impatient.

"Well, answer it aru," he snapped. Germany then nodded, slowly flipping open the lid. They all waited in anticipation, until the expected sound of a piano was heard. Germany placed the phone back into his pocket.

Everyone stood and began to crowd around the piano. Canada, Germany, Italy, and Japan were carefully examining the keys.

"I feel like we're missing something," Pakistan said after a few minutes. The others nodded in confusion as they continued to stare at the keys. The bright colours distracted them and they couldn't tell which note was which. It would have been very useful if Austria would have been with them.

Canada tapped his chin.

"First," he began, everyone turning to look at him, "What were the notes we heard?"

Dead silence was his only answer before he sighed, turning to Italy.

"Italy," he asked. The Italian jumped before tilting his head questioningly.

"Yes Canada?"

"You used to live with Austria when you were little, right?" Italy nodded vigorously. The others glanced at each other, smiles appearing on their faces as they realized what Canada was asking.

"In that case…." Canada gestured to the piano.

"Do you happen to know anything about piano notes?"

"Ve~," Italy peered down at the keyboard, finger touching the keys. Each one rang out loudly as he pressed.

"These are the notes we heard," Italy said, playing the four notes as a cord, "_Re_, _sol_, _la_, _si_."

"The numbers on the keys," Canada said, "are four different colours, all matching the ones we have on the paper." He pulled out a pen, taking the sheet from Germany.

"So, the code is 4259," England asked. Canada shook his head. He wrote the colours into their respective boxes, holding it up. Everyone let out a collective 'oh'.

"So, the code is 5294."

"Amazing," Pakistan exclaimed, clapping her hands. The other nations also congratulated Canada for his deduction, making the man blush.

"Well then," Germany said, straightening up, "Let's head back to that safe."

"I agree," Japan nodded before following the nation out of the room. One by one, the nations left. However, Italy lingered, glancing over to the piano with a frown.

"Looks like they solved it after all," he murmured.

"It's strange," he continued, bringing a hand up to his head, "I thought that I had done everything right. I probably shouldn't have helped them… But, well…. No, I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing."

Italy sighed, letting his hand drop.

"I'm not making a mistake…. Am I? No, I'm not. I'm not making any mistakes at all! Though…." He gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he slowly made his way to the door.

"I wonder if Japan will be mad? Heh, I know Germany will for sure! He wouldn't want to be my friend anymore! But it won't matter… We're almost there…" Italy grasped the door knob and hurried to catch up with the others.

* * *

The chest clicked open, Japan reaching in and grabbing the key that was inside. He showed it to the others. They then followed him to the Japanese styled room, unlocking the door that Italy and Germany had found.

The nations all scattered around the room, checking every corner in the room from top to bottom for clocks or any other kinds of hints.

Italy found a switch under the table, making everyone jump in surprise as the bookshelf that Japan and England were looking at moved to reveal a hidden door.

"Nice work Italy," Canada exclaimed. The Italian blushed as they pushed the door open.

Inside was a small cell, too small to fit everyone.

"We'll stay out here," China said, "and double check if we missed anything aru." Japan nodded, entering the room with Italy, Germany, Canada, and England.

The five entered the cell, Italy locking the door behind them as the others took a look around.

"There's nothing in here," England groaned, throwing his hands into the air. Japan had knelt down, checking the floor. His hands were drawn to a key.

"Not quite," he said, holding it up for the others to see.

"What's it for," Canada asked. Japan read the inscription.

_Basement key_

"It's for-!" Suddenly, loud shouts were heard from the room outside, causing everyone to look to the door. They could hear the faint sounds of battle before the door was flung open. The Thing strode in, dropping Russia to the floor, blood falling to the floor from his skull.

"I…." Everyone turned to Italy, who shook, eyes wide as he stared at Russia, "I think I made another mistake….. I made a mistake again!" The monster had a smirk on its face, but it disappeared as soon as it noticed the bars.

It grabbed them, shaking and roaring in frustration. The ones inside the cell were all paralysed in fear as they watched.

Suddenly, the monster's head slammed against the bars, black blood dripping to the floor. It turned around to face China and Pakistan in the doorway.

The two were bruised, blood falling to the floor from their arms and legs. However, everyone could only see the furious expressions on their faces. China had grabbed Russia, flinging him over his shoulder with a quiet curse of how heavy he was while Pakistan was throwing her knives up and catching them once more.

"Get away from them, mām̐ kamīnē!" She threw another knife, the blade cutting into the creature's leg. It howled in pain. She then grabbed onto China's arm and the two plus unconscious Russia took off, the monster right behind them.

Italy quickly unlocked the cell door, flinging it wide open. Before he could take off after the monster, however, Germany grabbed onto him, holding him in a crushing grasp.

Italy struggled, yelling out in Italian as he tried to break free, but Germany refused to let go. Japan quickly ran out past the German, through the door and into the Japanese styled hall.

He noticed the other door open, dashing through it and running to catch up with the monster's vicious snarls.

"_Please," _Japan thought, turning the corridor and running towards the kitchen, _"let them be safe!"_

Japan flung the kitchen door open, startling the monster which was scratching at the cellar door. The Japanese man assumed that they were hiding in there, silently thanking whatever deity that existed that the door had a lock. The creature growled, hideous grin making its way onto its face. Japan turned and ran, the monster chasing after him.

"_At least I can give them time to return to the others…"_

* * *

The kitchen fell into silence as Japan led the monster away from them. China and Pakistan held their breaths, silently hoping that whoever distracted the monster could get away safely. They couldn't hear any sounds of battle, so they assumed that the coast was clear.

China slowly pushed the cabinet door open, looking out just in case. He gave a sigh of relief, climbing out of the kitchen cabinet above one of the sinks and dropping to the floor. He then turned around, helping Pakistan climb out and down to the floor beside him.

She gave him a thankful smile, blushing, before going to the cellar door with her knife. China then knelt down to the cabinet under the sink, opening the doors and started to pull out Russia from the small cramped hiding spot.

With one of her knives, Pakistan unlocked the cellar door, the click making her nod her head in accomplishment before she went back over to China and helped him pull out Russia. The two then flung his limp arms over their shoulders and left the kitchen.

As the three slowly made their way down the hallway, Pakistan and China could faintly hear the sounds of pounding footsteps on the floor above them. Whoever had led the monster away was upstairs, trying to lose it. They mentally thanked him as they entered the silent foyer.

A breeze came through making Pakistan shiver. She then turned to look to her left, and saw that the front door was open.

"Hey China, look!" She lifted her free hand and pointed to the front door as China glanced over.

"The door's open," she continued, grinning, "let's get the others and escape!" Pakistan began to pull both China and Russia to the door, "C'mon!"

"No, wait Pakistan." China came to an abrupt halt, holding Russia up as Pakistan stumbled. She looked at him curiously.

"We can't escape just yet aru," he stated. Pakistan raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" China dropped Russia's arm, throwing his hands up into the air. Pakistan struggled to hold up Russia. The sleeves of China's World War 2 uniform were over his hands as he looked at her.

"Aiyah! Don't tell me you don't know!" Pakistan drew a blank, sweat dropping.

"…. I don't know…. What?"

China walked over to the door, looking over to her as he lectured.

"It is very simple Pakistan, aru," he said, putting his hand on the door frame, "if we were to leave now, then this story would be pointless and the readers would want to hit the author for her lame attempt at finishing it quickly." He then closed the door, locking it with a clack.

Pakistan felt her jaw hit the floor as China walked past her.

"There, now we can return to the others aru!" Pakistan found that she couldn't speak.

"D-Did he just do what I think he just did?" She jumped, squeaking in surprise as she stared at Russia. The large man was staring at the door in confusion, completely ignoring the shocked Pakistan.

"How long have you been conscious?!"

* * *

Japan breathed heavily, pushing open the door and locking it behind him. The other nations sighed in relief. China rushed up to him, hugging the Japanese man tightly, thanking him and muttering about how worried he was in Chinese.

Italy was with Russia, healing the head wound he had sustained. The Italian seemed to have fallen into silence, not saying anything if someone asked him what was wrong. It was almost as if he was running on auto-pilot. Germany was especially worried, though even he couldn't get an answer from the usually hyper Italian.

Pakistan was sitting on the floor beside Canada, Kumajiro in her lap. She was absently petting the polar bear, not quite processing what was going on around her. Much like Italy, she wouldn't tell anyone about what was wrong. She still couldn't figure out why China did what he did and still managed to make _sense_.

"It's good that you made it back," England said. Japan nodded. The others began crowding around, almost in a semi-circle.

"I wish it had been me instead," Italy muttered before he gave a bright smile, "But Japan is extra, extra fast too!"

"Anyways," Canada interrupted, "We found the next clock!"

Germany held up the ticking device. Russia looked over to Japan from his side of the circle.

"The key that you found leads to the basement, da?" Japan blinked before he realized that one of the others must have explained what he had found in the cell. He nodded. Russia then turned to look at everyone, serious expression covering his usually cheery demeanour.

"Before we go, we should settle this memory confusion." The others frowned, nodding. They all wanted to start, but Germany coughed.

"Each one of you has three minutes," he barked, "If you have something to say, raise your hand!"

No one did. They were all waiting for someone else to go. Slowly, but surely, England raised his hand. Germany nodded. The Brit sighed, crossing his arms and looking down to the floor.

"I don't think it's just me, but…. Didn't you all notice something, anything, when we broke the clocks?"

The silence was deafening. China then gave a slow nod of agreement.

"You noticed it too aru? Then it wasn't just my imagination…."

"So," Russia then said softly, "We all noticed that we get some kind of…. Fake memory whenever we break a clock?"

Once more, silence reined. No one said a word. Germany's brow furrowed in worry, however, he didn't break the silent atmosphere that hung in the air.

"When Japan broke the clock in the piano room," Pakistan then said, "I got memories of coming here with Canada and a few others. But…."

Russia nodded before continuing.

"Our memories are all tangled. Let's first remember how we all started…"

The first thing that came to everyone's mind was the World meeting.

"It all started at the World meeting," England began, tapping his chin, "We were all gathered in that one place, including the ones who are missing right now."

"Hai, there is no doubt that that is where it all started," Japan said, "It was there that America-kun told us about the rumours he had heard about this mansion and said that he wanted to come and see what it was like."

"The meeting had then ended," Canada picked up, "And since we had nothing better to do, I came here with America, China, Pakistan, Russia, France, and England…"

"We also invited Japan aru," China added, "But he didn't come with us. That's why I sent him a text right before I entered the mansion."

At this, the Allies nodded. They could remember China pulling out his cell phone and texting Japan.

"When he saw that message," Germany then said, "Italy began to say that he wanted to come too. So the three of us headed here, along with my brother."

Both of the other Axis members made their agreement heard before England began to speak again.

"But it's weird. I also have memories of coming here with America and Japan, and it was China who got separated from us, not France."

All the nations fell silent as they thought over his revelation.

"Maybe…," Italy began. Everyone turned to look at him as he continued, "Maybe we're getting confused because there are several mixed memories? Since we don't know which one is right, we draw the wrong conclusions."

Russia hummed, tapping his chin.

"That's also an idea…."

"So, when the false memories get mixed in with our real memories, they cover the truth and we get confused and don't know which is real or fake," Pakistan stated. Russia nodded.

"Da, and once you suspect something, everything else becomes suspicious."

Italy smiled, clapping his hands together.

"Well then," he said, "that means that whenever we break a clock, we'll get lots of false memories, but we shouldn't believe any of them!"

The others nodded. After what had happened in the cell, everyone slowly began to notice that Italy was acting a bit strange. But now, he was back to his usual behavior. They could feel doubt creeping into the backs of their minds, however there wasn't anything that they could do about it.

"It we invite confusion…. Right. Then I believe that we should try our best to discard the fake memories without believing them."

China sighed, folding his arms and shaking his head.

"What a bother aru," the Chinese man exclaimed. Pakistan patted his shoulder.

"Well then," Canada said, "I suppose that we should expect to get strange memories whenever we break a clock."

"If you can discard them without worrying," Germany stated, "then please do so." He lifted the clock once more.

"I'll break the clock," he gave each nation a stern glare, "If you get any strange memories, just forget about them right away. Don't forget who you came with or how you came to be here now."

After receiving a nod from everyone, Germany dropped the clock. Glass shattered on the floor as orange overtook their vision.

* * *

_He panted, turning the corner quickly. Two by two down the stairs he went, the sound of the monster's growls and footsteps rushing down behind him. _

_No matter what, England never turned around. If you turn around, you'll slow down and the Thing would get that much closer to catching up with you. And if it caught up with you, you were dead. It was that simple. Much like how Japan was dead, and how Russia was dead, and how the Frog and America…._

"_No," he thought, blinking away wet tears that formed in his eyes. He needed to survive. He needed to run. To survive for them. _

_They were stupid. Why did they listen to America? Why couldn't he stop him from going? _

_He took a deep breath, running down the next flight of stairs. The monster wasn't letting up, it seemed to only get closer. _

"_How was it getting faster?" England flung open the door to the library, rushing inside and slamming the door behind him, locking it. He heaved a large sigh. The sound of footsteps in front of him made him look up._

_It was Italy, the other nation looking tired. Sweat was falling down the side of his face. Behind him was Germany and Prussia. Canada was there too. In the back corner, China was clutching onto Pakistan, sobbing. She was too still. Germany followed his gaze, shaking his head._

_England groaned, his head falling into his hands. The door behind him shook, making him snap up and slowly step away. The others all froze, the fear appearing on their faces. _

_The door burst off its hinges, England ducking as it flew overhead. When he stood back up, the only thing he saw was the monster's grey form. A hand grabbed him by his hair, making him gasp in pain. The others tried their best to knock him loose, but it didn't let go. _

_England could feel blood start to fall down his face and he closed his eyes to blink it away. _

_The monster had made its way over to China, grabbing him by the hair as well. The Chinese man winced as he was lifted. The monster stared at the both of them, grinning. The others voices seemed to fade as the Thing smashed their skulls together. _

_Blood flew everywhere, splattering all over the floor as the creature dropped their bodies down. The others ran, crying and never once looking back. _

_The monster chased after them._

* * *

England gasped as he opened his eyes and he shivered, Germany helping him calm down. When he was fine, he waited for the others to wake up, blood and gore the only thing that he could see.

* * *

_She struggled to keep up with him, China's hand clutching hers so tightly that she thought that he would rip it off. No sounds came from behind them, and Pakistan couldn't help but feel her heart clench. _

_There had been two others in their group; Canada and France. They had been the group that the others sent to look for Russia and England, who were missing. They should have brought more._

_Once they saw the creature, the four took off running. Canada had tripped, losing his glasses almost immediately. France fell behind to help him up. The two would have went back, but the French man told them to run._

_So they ran. They ran and they ran until their lungs and legs burned. Everything seemed to hurt._

_She thought that they were far enough away. The two had run up to the fourth floor, locking the door to the room behind them. They ignored the lever, it was broken and couldn't help them. _

"_If that Thing finds us, we're dead," Pakistan sobbed, grabbing onto her hair as she shook her head. China hugged her tightly, his own tears falling._

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept muttering over and over. There was a knock on the door. Then, a loud banging began. The two had frozen, backing away._

_They had found Russia and England. The two were already gone, England's head and limbs ripped from his body, blood everywhere. The upper half of Russia's own body was indistinguishable, so bloody and mangled was it that China had puked and France had fainted. _

_The Chinese man raised Russia's bloody pipe. Pakistan hid behind him, yet her knives were out and ready to throw once the Thing came in. The door burst open and the creature rushed inside. _

_They fought their hardest, yet it was in vain. Pakistan cried out when the monster threw China into the wall. The snap was so loud and it rung in her ears. With a grief induced rage, she rushed it._

_This was where she fell, down, down, down…_

* * *

Pakistan let out a sob, her eyes opening, yet blurring with tears. She continued to sob, Germany trying to console her. She crawled over to China's still form and felt his pulse, checking if he was alive. He was breathing, and she stayed there and waited for him to wake up.

* * *

_He closed the door behind him, sighing. The others looked up wearily, hands coming to rest on their weapons. But when they realized it was him, Canada, they relaxed. _

"_Canada-san?" The nation looked over to Japan._

"_Where is China-san," the Japanese man asked worriedly. Canada could feel himself look down._

"_I….." _

_Silence filled the room as everyone's attention was on him._

_He never wanted this. Canada never wanted their attention on him like this. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. _

_Everyone was waiting for his answer._

"_China…. Is asleep," he said quietly._

"_He fell into a deep, deep sleep." _

_No one knew what he meant. _

"_So…." They all turned to look at Pakistan. Tears were in her eyes._

"… _China will never say…. 'Aru' anymore…?" She tilted her head._

"…_.He'll never…. Try to convince me to…. Buy things from him….. Anymore…?" Everyone was here. Canada could feel that they were beginning to get the idea as Pakistan's tears started to fall._

"… _He'll never… Take me…. To one of his….. China towns anymore?" _

_She gasped, not even wiping the tears away._

"_I'll never be able to tell him that I….. That I…" The nation let out a sob, falling to the floor, shaking and crying. England rushed over to try to calm his former colony down, yet to no avail._

_Canada closed his eyes, wiping the tears away from under his glasses._

_He hated being the bearer of bad news._

* * *

Canada opened his eyes, blinking and sitting up. Germany was kneeling over him and checked if he was fine before moving to the next person. Kumajiro prodded his side, pointing with his paw. Canada looked.

And seeing Pakistan sitting beside China's still form unemotionally was more heartbreaking than her breaking down in front of him.

* * *

_He ducked its flailing arms, the claws slicing through the air above him before he ran through its legs and out of the room. China continued to run, his breathing heavy._

_His back hurt, his feet hurt, his eyes were drooping… There was no end! He couldn't find anyone, he couldn't tell where they were. _

_China ran down the stairs, the monster right behind him. The Asian nation turned the corner. He fell to the floor, the other person wincing as they landed. _

_He looked up and met Pakistan's eyes. With panicked fright, he grabbed her hand, dragging her to her feet and pulling her along behind him. The monster snarled, hideously grinning as it chased after the two. _

_China flung open the door of a room, pulling the female nation in behind him and slamming the door shut, locking it. _

_They backed up, the fear cropping in as the monster pounded on the door relentlessly. They didn't have much time._

_They pulled out their weapons. They had no choice. They had to fight._

_The monster broke into the room, snarling. China rushed it, slamming his wok in its face. It roared, smacking him away. Pakistan responded by throwing a knife into its eye. _

_Howling, it gave her a murderous glare before charging. She dodged. China slowly stood and the two were once more side by side. _

_The monster gave out a snarl, picking up the chair behind it and flinging it at the two. They were forced to separate. The chair exploded into multiple pieces, wood flying in all directions. China and Pakistan were up on their feet again, moving out the way of the beast's charge. But what it did next was unexpected._

_It picked up the wooden pieces of the chair, sharp and pointed, and flung them. Pakistan blocked the first couple from hitting China, blood coming from her back before she fell to the floor. He knelt down, eyes wide, growing even wider when the next pieces hit him in the chest. _

_China fell onto his back, breathing heavily. The monster left the room, door wide open. _

"_Chi…. Na…." He looked over, seeing Pakistan stretching her arm to reach him._

"_Pa….Ki….Stan…." He lifted his own arm. Their fingers were just out of reach, yet they kept trying._

"_China… I…" _

"_W-What….? What….. Is…. It aru?"_

_China saw her tears fall._

"_What…. Do….. I….. Mean….. To you….?" China felt one of his own tears slip down his cheek._

" _What….. Do…. You….. Mean…. To…. Me?" _

"_Chi….Na…?"_

_He could feel himself losing feeling. So, this was what it felt like to die._

"_I….. Lo….-" He didn't get to finish his sentence when he saw the light fade from her eyes and her hand dropped to the floor. His tears fell even faster as he sucked in a breath of air._

"_All…. I….." He gasped, reaching desperately for her limp hand._

"_Wanted….. Was….. To….."_

_His hand fell and the light faded from his eyes._

_All he wanted then was to see her smile._

* * *

China took a shaky breath as he opened his eyes. Looking up to see Pakistan's teary face, he gave a weak chuckle, smiling in relief. He wiped the tears from her cheeks. She let out a sob, flinging her arms around him. He held her close, murmuring to her quietly.

She was alive. And even if she never knew how he felt about her, he was just glad that she was breathing.

* * *

_He opened the door, dropping his bag down beside it. Closing it behind him, Japan gave a sigh. Upon noticing the bump on the bed, he slowly made his way towards the quivering blankets. Just as he was about to uncover the blankets, something slipped out from underneath. Silver caught the light as a sword came down. _

_("This is when I first met up with Prussia-san," _Japan thought as he watched the scene,_ "But…. I feel as though I am…. Forgetting something…..")_

_"Who's there?!" Japan gasped in surprise, pulling out his own sword hastily and blocking the attack._

_"Doudou, Prussia-san! Calm down, it's only me!"_

_The German blinked, sighing in relief as he retracted his sword._

_"Ah Japan? Sorry 'bout that." Japan nodded, placing his katana back into its sheath._

_("Something is different," _he thought, mentally tapping his chin, _"I reunited with Prussia-san and we went to see Germany-san…..")_

_"Prussia-san? What's wrong?" Prussia didn't answer, simply staring at the door and tightening his grip. Finally, he spoke in such a low whisper, Japan had to strain to hear him._

_"Hey…. Do you hear that?" The Japanese nation blinked and closed his eyes in hopes to heighten his other senses. The door banged open._

_(" I-It came in?!" _Japan mentally looked around before he found himself staring at the door, _"Oh….. The lock….")_

_The monster ran over to the two, grinning._

"_Watch out!" Prussia jumped in front of him, taking the blow himself. Japan gasped as Prussia used his sword, instantly stabbing the creature in the forehead. It gave out a furious cry before disappearing. Prussia fell, holding his wound. Japan fell down beside him, the ex-nation's blood soaking his pants._

"_Prussia-san! H-Hold on," Japan tried desperately to stop the bleeding with his hands. Blood flowed out between his fingers. _

"_D-Don't worry," Prussia muttered, "I'm a nation….. I won't die….."_

_He then let out a laugh of realization._

"_Ah…. But I'm not a nation….. Anymore… Am I? I told you….. That….." _

"_S-Stop it," Japan exclaimed, hugging the other tightly, "I'll call Germany-san! T-This isn't the time for jokes!" _

"_Are…. West…. And Ita….. alright…?" Japan fell silent, staring down at the usually cheery albino. The other was looking up at him, his eyes glazing over. Japan gave a soft nod, the guilt of lying appearing in his gut._

"_Hai…. Both have already left the mansion…. We'll go home too… Germany-san and Italy-kun are waiting for us." Prussia grinned, coughing._

"_Kesese! Yeah…. We'll go…. To your….. House…. And then…. To the hot springs….." _

_("Because I forgot to lock the door," _Japan thought sadly watching as his other-self cried quietly to himself, clutching Prussia tightly, _"Prussia-san had to….. But, I-I did lock the door. And… Prussia-san's alive…. This memory… It must be fake. He wouldn't die in a place like this.")_

The scene changed quickly. Japan gasped as the sight of an empty, stone walled room appeared. The only ones within were himself and the rest of the Axis. None of the Allies were there.

_("T-This room-? W-What is this?!")_

"_Damn it!" Germany threw a fist at the wall, silent tears falling. His shoulders were shaking as he threw another fist._

"_Even when the four of us got together," he continued, "the situation still hasn't gotten any better! We're still locked up in here and that monster is still fucking after us!"_

_("W-What is this? I-Is this something from… the future?")_

_Prussia walked over to his brother. Tapping him on the shoulder, the albino gave his younger brother a hard punch. Germany fell to the floor._

"_West, don't be so pessimistic," Prussia hissed, "Someone will eventually notice that some nations are gone, even though it's only a few, and they'll come to help…." _

"_W-We're being eaten one by one," Germany replied, glaring up at Prussia, "That's what I would do if I were the Thing!" _

_Prussia lifted a foot, pushing Germany down into the ground._

"_That's enough West," he shouted, "There are no doubt many other ways to get out of here!"_

_It was quiet as Prussia took his foot off. Germany stood, rubbing his forehead._

"_Sorry," he murmured, "I can't…. Think like that but…. I feel as though I'm on a battlefield. Though, if it was one…. I would be able to keep myself together and protect you…. I want to change this." Japan shook his head._

"_You can't help it," he said, "You hate situations like this." _

_They fell into silence._

"_Germany…." The three turned to Italy._

"_It's okay," the Italian said, "You'll be okay. You'll be able to get out this time. And if you get out, then run straight ahead. Don't look back, no matter what, and get time-"_

_("Time," _Japan thought, confused, _"What is Italy talking about?") _

_The door behind Italy was slammed open. The Thing walked up until it was directly behind the small Italian, grinning._

_Italy didn't seem to be scared. He simply gave them a small smile, tears falling._

"_Promise me Germany."_

* * *

"Japan? Ve~ Japan, are you okay?!" Japan opened his eyes to see the Italian holding him.

"Italy!" He wrapped his arms around the shocked nation, breathing heavily. Italy's expression grew even more concerned as he held his friend.

"What's the matter Japan?"

"Japan!" The nation looked over to Russia.

"Do you remember what we said about the clocks?"

Japan slowly calmed down, closing his eyes as he loosened his grip on Italy's shirt.

"M-My apologizes…. I'm fine. I remember." China came over to him, carefully taking Japan's hands in his own.

"You seem to get a lot more memories then the rest of us aru," he said quietly, "and… They seem to be more intense."

"Are you alright," England asked, thick brows furrowed in concern, "Do you need to rest a little?"

Japan shook his head. China squeezed his hands.

"To be honest," Germany began, "Nothing happened to me. To be truthful, I haven't gotten any sort of strange memory even once so far. Maybe I've just been…. Exempted?"

Canada gave a laugh that sounded forced. Everyone looked at him oddly.

"You're lucky," Canada said, "I-I remember running from the Thing… With….. um…. Italy! And….. I remember coming here with….. my brother….." It was obvious he was hiding something, judging from the way he would occasionally glance at China and Pakistan, though they didn't comment when China spoke up.

"M-Me too aru! B-But when I calmed down, I realized that it was nonsense and I forgot about it right away! Though it was really scary at the time aru…."

"It's like waking up from a dream," Pakistan agreed, "Though it seems more like a nightmare to me…"

"When we go through it again," England said, "we have difficulty separating dream from reality. However, as soon as we calm down…. Our good judgement would come back. T-The first thing that we need to do…. Is calm down."

As Japan looked from each person, he noticed how Canada, England, Pakistan, and China seemed to be acting strange. However, if the others noticed, they didn't show it and just continued the discussion. Japan cleared his throat.

"Did anyone see any rooms that we….. Haven't been in before?"

Everyone fell silent before they shook their heads.

"Nope," Russia said, "I have many memories, but they've all taken place in the rooms we've unlocked so far."

"Did something happen to make you worry?" Japan turned to Italy. He stared before giving a small smile and shaking his head.

"No, I was just…. Curious." When the Italian turned away, Japan frowned.

"_When we break the clocks, we receive fake memories that will make us confused. There's no question about it. It's only because I'm confused…. Yes, that has to be it!"_

England raised his arm, pulling back his sleeve and looking at his watch. Nodding, he then turned to look at the others.

"Is the time on everyone's watches right?" The other nations checked their own wrists before nodding.

"Then let's get to the basement!"

In twos, the nations left the room. First was England with Canada beside him. Next was Germany and Russia. Finally, China and Pakistan, the Asian nation holding onto her hand. The only ones left in the room were Japan and Italy. Before he could leave, Japan stopped his friend with a hand on his shoulder.

"Italy-kun….." Italy looked back at him curiously.

"What is it Japan?"

"Are you…. Hurt somewhere?" The Italian was silent as he pondered the words. He shook his head.

"…. No. I'm not hurt at all." Japan dropped his hand.

"I see. I'm sorry for asking such a strange question." Italy turned and left the room. Japan stared at the closed door in front of him with a troubled expression.

"_It's like seeing many movies and being shown so many things that you end up not knowing what is real," _Japan thought. His brow furrowed.

"_But if by any chance that room does exist…. Then that means that Italy-kun will….." _

Japan exited the room, lightly jogging to catch up with the others. China had let out a large sigh.

"I know that this isn't really important," he said, "But I just wish that I could rest somewhere without having to worry…"

Further ahead, Canada nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… I'm so tired. I just wish that I can lie down for a bit."

"_We have to be careful," _Japan concluded as he fell into step beside his Italian friend, _"We thought that we were being deceived by those memories, but…. Maybe….."_

"_They could be…. A message from someone?"_

* * *

**M****ām****̐**** kamīnē**** – Mother fucker (When Pakistan is pissed, she will swear. Though, I'm glad that I can cover it up by using Google Translate. I suppose it's a bit pointless since I tell you guys what the words mean anyway).**

**Hai – Yes**

**Okay, just to make things clear. Pakistan managed to lock the door to the kitchen. While China was hiding Russia, he then told her to lock the cellar door in hopes of it believing they were in there. She then locked the cellar door with her knife. The two both then climbed into the cabinet above the sink and closed the doors, just as the monster burst into the kitchen. Quick thinking on China's part managed to save them. Thank. God. **

**I'm sorry. I had to do it. XD The best part in all of HetaOni had to be the scene where China just closes the door and breaks the fourth wall, all in one go. XD I just changed some of the words to match the scenario. **

**God, such a long chapter! *Falls over dead* **


	11. MemOriES? pt 1

**A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating as quickly as I wanted. I've started to get really busy (I mean like WTF where did that science test come from?! Are you kidding me, I had a religion test too?!) so yeah. Plus, I also have band practice (clarinet player here) and piano lessons. And on Saturday I had tutoring, karate, and my family birthday party. So yeah, tough week. God I'm tired…. **

**You're right Aprincess, everyone is special. But still, I find it best to think of yourself as the most special of them all. **

**But not tired enough to not get another chapter out for you guys! *Grins***

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking" _

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

Japan pulled out the basement key from his pocket, unlocking the door. With a single gesture, he led the group of eight into the grey room.

It was small and bare. The only thing that caught their attention was the two doors on the opposite walls. After a few muttered words, the Allies took the door on the left while the Axis took the door on the right.

Japan, Germany, and Italy searched around the room, through the cabinets and in the closet. Germany also checked under the table in the middle of the room, just in case. Upon finding nothing, Germany sighed and said that he would stay outside and wait for them. Japan nodded, turning back to the dresser drawer he was looking through.

The door closed, leaving only Japan and Italy in the room.

"Hey, Japan?" The nation glanced up to his friend. The Italian had a concerned expression on his face.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Haven't you been brooding about something for a while?" Japan stood silent, staring at the other before turning back to the drawer.

"Have I now?" Italy nodded his head furiously.

"Are you hung up on something?" He leaned over so that his eyes met Japan's, "You've been odd since we broke the clock." Japan shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. If anything, you should be more concerned about some of the others. They've been acting strange as well." Italy frowned. Japan brought his full attention to his friend.

"Are you alright Italy? You're shaking a little." The Italian jumped.

"W-What, really? D-Don't you think that maybe it was your…. Imagination?" With that said, Italy turned around. His back was facing his friend. Japan's face frowned in concern. The two feel into silence.

"Um… Listen," Italy finally said. He didn't turn around, his voice low, "If you saw anything, it's all a lie…. So, you shouldn't think about it."

Japan found this odd.

"… Shouldn't I think about the confusion as, perhaps, a hint," he asked, "I was just trying to rethink some ideas-"

"NO!" Italy whipped around, an expression of rage on his face. Japan took a step back, shock covering his features.

"Italy?" The Italian shook his head, pointing at him. His anger was prominent as he yelled.

"Just forget it," he shouted, "Just forget it right now! Don't even think about those strange things!" With that, Italy stomped out of the room, door slamming behind him.

Japan stared at the door, his surprise still seen and his hands shaking.

"_W-What was that," _he asked himself, _"I've never seen Italy so angry before…. In fact, I can never remember a time when he was ever mad! I wonder what's wrong…." _He shook his head, turning back to the drawer, searching through its contents.

"_Maybe it's just the stress of being in this mansion for so long? Yes, that's probably it…" _

"Hm?" Japan pushed past the crushed sheets of paper. With a gasp, the nation pulled out a key and read the inscription on the back.

_Cell Door key_

"This should be useful," he muttered, putting the key into his pocket along with all the others. After this, he left the room.

All of the other nations were waiting, the Allies explaining what they had found.

"The two paths ended up merging at the same place," England was saying, "but we couldn't keep going because the next door was locked."

"It was almost like a cell," China continued, "From what I saw, there were two halls. I couldn't see where they led though aru."

"Almost like a cell," Japan asked. Pakistan turned to him, nodding.

"The cell door was locked and we couldn't find any way to open it," she explained, "Though, I think it was probably for the best that we came back here first." Japan tapped his chin before reaching into his pocket.

"I found a key in the other room," he said, showing it to the others, "It said that it was for a 'Cell Door'. I wasn't sure what it meant though, but now…"

"It might be for the door we found," Canada said, smiling. The others nodded, grins appearing on their faces as well.

"We've been finding so many strange keys," Russia chuckled, "It is almost as if someone placed them there in hopes to lead one to safety, da?" The others thought about what the nation said. Italy stiffened. Their thinking was interrupted by the door to the first floor flinging open.

They all gasped in surprise as the monster gave its benevolent grin as it came in.

"Run!" The nations made a mad dash to the door the Allies checked, harshly opening it and bursting into a dead run down the corridor. They came to a break in the path, the monster right behind them.

"I'll go left," China called, turning down the left path, Pakistan right behind him.

"Then I'll go right," England replied, swiftly running down the right path. Japan tossed the key to Germany, pushing him and Italy down the right path. The Italian was protesting, but Japan gave a simple smile.

"It's alright Italy," he said, "Get to the cell door and open it. The others and I will try to shake the creature." Germany grabbed onto Italy and pulled him away, tears running down the nation's cheeks.

Japan nodded to Canada, who followed behind the crying nation.

As the monster came barreling towards them, Russia threw one of the rocks on the floor. It smacked the creature right in the forehead, making it trip and stumble.

"Nice shot," Japan commented when the Thing cried out. Russia chuckled, shaking his head.

"I do not think that we should be so victorious so soon comrade."

The Thing kept coming towards them, though its speed was greatly diminished, and the two nations took off down the left path, the monster behind them.

Entering the next room, Japan was forced to jump over a couch that was too close to the door. Russia had gone around it. The two came to a stop, panting as the monster stumbled into the room. China and Pakistan had stepped up until all four nations were side by side.

"That door over there will take us to the others," China stated, nodding his head towards said door.

"So that means that we have to get rid of it first before we continue," Japan replied, his eyes following the creature's movements. Pakistan gave a laugh.

"I never thought the four of us would be fighting together again so soon," she said, pulling out her knives. China smiled, his wok and spoon coming into hand. Russia pulled out his pipe. Japan pulled out his sword.

"Indeed," Russia grinned, "If that's the case, then it would be best to become one with Russia, da?"

At this, the other three nations shuddered in unison.

"I have no response to that," Japan muttered, shaking his head.

"That makes two of us," Pakistan replied.

"Let's just…. Focus on the creature aru," China stated. The others nodded, their faces serious once more.

The Thing in question let out a roar. Rushing forwards, it raised a claw, slamming the couch out of the way. It was quickly followed by the table, the wood breaking as it hit the wall. The four dodged out of the monster's way and raised their weapons.

The creature snarled, turning around. It stared at them with its piercing black eyes, not moving. The nations tensed up, waiting.

The enemies were at a standstill, none making a move towards the other.

The monster roared once more as it started towards them. Finally, it hurled towards them, mouth open revealing sharp pointed teeth. Its claws were outstretched and snapping to hit them.

The four began their attack as they moved to dodge.

Japan slide between the monster's legs, slicing with his katana at the exposed ankles. Black blood dripped to the floor.

Pakistan flipped to the left, throwing one of her knives. It embedded itself into the creature's side. More blood fell and coated the area beneath it.

China had leapt up, slamming his wok down onto the monster's exposed teeth. He then climbed onto the Thing's head, jumping over and landing beside the first two.

Russia moved right, smacking the creature's face with his pipe. A loud squish sound could be heard as more blood splattered all around.

When it turned, each of the nations had a different reaction. Japan felt himself shudder as he gazed upon the monster's face. Pakistan and China both winced. Russia gave a disgusted scowl.

The monster's mouth had blood dribbling down from China's attack. Broken teeth littered the floor around it. Russia had hit the creature in the eye, smashing it in. It snarled in rage before charging at them once again.

Japan and Russia met the charge head on, Japan ducking the creature's claws and slicing at its stomach. Russia wacked the monster in the head again with his pipe.

The two felt expressions of surprise come onto their faces, and they were pretty sure China and Pakistan shared similar features. The tough skin of the monster wasn't as tough as before. This was proven since Japan's katana cut right through into the Thing's stomach. Russia's pipe had smashed in the other eye. The black blood splattered on the two as they jumped back.

Loud plop sounds were heard as intestines fell from the monster's open stomach.

"G-Gross," Pakistan exclaimed, taking a step back in horror. The monster let out an angry roar, swinging its arms around.

It didn't seem to be able to see them.

"L-Let's get out of here," China said, turning and bolting to their exit. The other three followed, leaving behind the enraged monster.

* * *

The group stopped running, panting heavily as they reached the cell door. Once they had caught their breath, Japan pushed it open and led them through before closing it behind him. The four then looked between the two separate hallways.

"Maybe it would be best that we check this room first," Japan said, gesturing to the door on their right. At this, the others nodded.

They gathered around the door. Japan only hesitated once before he tugged on the knob. It wouldn't open. Both China and Pakistan groaned. Russia and Japan both gave sighs.

"Maybe there's a key somewhere," Pakistan asked. Japan groaned, bringing a hand to his forehead.

"I'd rather not think of that," he replied, "Though it's not unbelievable…"

"In that case aru," China said, "Let's start looking."

The four turned from the door and began to make their way down the hall. However, a click behind them made them flinch. They all spun around, pulling out their weapons.

America had his gun pointed in Russia's, who was closest to the door, face. Germany had his whip ready to lash at Japan and China. France had his sword pointed at Pakistan. The two groups stood frozen before America lowered his gun with a grin.

"Oh, it's just you guys!" Everyone then relaxed.

"You better get in here quickly," Germany stated, anxiously glancing to the barred door behind them. The four nations nodded, following his lead into the room.

There was another large cell in the room and everyone was gathered outside of it. None of them seemed to be injured, much to their relief. The other nations all looked up when their friends entered the room with them, Germany locking the door behind them.

"Japan! Ve~ I'm so glad you guys are okay!"

Italy jumped up from his seat beside Prussia, rushing over to them and hugging the Japanese nation tightly. He then let go only to latch onto China and Pakistan next. Giving them reassuring smiles he then turned to Russia, wrapping his arms around the bigger man, much to everyone's surprise.

The Italian let go, grinning as Germany coughed to get everyone's attention.

"We found these three in the cell over there," he said, gesturing to the mentioned cage, "And were asking them how they got here when you knocked."

"We thought it was that monster," America butted in, "So I readied to attack with Germany and France as my backup!" At this, everyone sweat dropped.

"_Well, it seems like he hasn't changed," _were the thoughts that everyone shared.

"Anyway," Germany continued, turning to Prussia, "Care to explain what happened while we were resting?"

The ex-nation perked up, giving one of his huge grins.

"Well, while I was having fun keeping watch, someone suddenly began to pound on the door. When I opened it, I found that it was _him_." He turned to glare at France, who gave out a boisterous laugh.

"His face was a masterpiece!" France slowly stopped laughing and then continued, "But he came out swinging his sword at me and I got a little injured." He lifted his arm sleeve and showing the bandages.

Prussia glared at the French man.

"Aw come on," he whined, "I said I was sorry! Besides, it was only a flesh wound!"

"Does this seem like a flesh wound to you," France snarled, angrily shaking his arm at the albino.

"Anyways," he shook his head before looking over to the others once more, "while you three snored away, we were exchanging information when suddenly-!" He was quickly interrupted by Prussia, who stood waving his arms around frantically.

"-the monster that looked like the colour of England's rotten scones- ("Hey," England exclaimed angrily standing) – came out of fucking nowhere! I wasn't ready to fight and my sword wasn't sharp enough so I got injured. We were in some really deep shit! And waking you guys up would have made it worse so we fought in the hallway. And since we were at a bit of a disadvantage, we were forced to make a tactical retreat to the first floor!"

"And then before we knew it," France picked up, "the monster was ahead of us, attacking America. We were going to sneak away behind its back, but then America waved his hands and said "Hey~! Over here~!" with a huge grin. So we got dragged into it."

"I couldn't fight it alone," America interrupted again, "What's the problem?! I just thought that we would have three more chances to beat it-!"

"So," Prussia then continued, "since we weren't ready to fight, we couldn't fight, and ran away to this place. We took refuge in that cell," he pointed to the cell, "but then we couldn't open it from the inside, so we had no choice but to wait for you guys to show up."

"This is the last time we're helping you aru," China frowned, crossing his arms. Pakistan smacked him in the head, sighing. The Chinese man groaned, rubbing the place she hit and gave her a mock glare. She stuck out her tongue in return.

"… We need to explain to them what's going on," Canada coughed, interrupting their silent fight, "Then there's also that other room down the hall…"

"Then we should probably split up into two groups," England said. He then turned to glare at America, "I want to have a few words with you!"

"In that case," Canada continued, "England and I will stay to lecture America."

"I have some things to tell them too," Germany said. America gave a grin, making his way to Japan and grabbing onto his arm.

"Then I'll go with Japan to check out the rest of the basement!" China turned his head to the younger nation in exasperation.

"Weren't you listening," he asked, "We're going to explain to you what's going on, so you have to stay aru!" America pouted at his elder.

"Aww," he whined, "do I have too? Japan can explain to me, can't you Japan?" The American's blue eyes turned to the mentioned nation. Japan sweat dropped, inwardly sighing.

"_It just _had_ to be the slowest to understand," _he thought. But Japan nodded slowly in agreement.

"Very well. I'm glad to do it," he then loosened America's grip on his arm and made his way to the door, "Well, we'll just look around. See you later."

Italy rushed forward, waving his hand.

"I'll come too!" Japan shook his head, giving the Italian a small smile.

"No, we'll be fine. We'll just look around and we'll be right back. Canada, England, I'll lecture him on your behalf." America sighed.

"Give him a good earful," Canada said, crossing his arms and giving his brother a glare. England stepped forward.

"No, wait. I'm coming with you. There's something that's been bothering me." America groaned. Pakistan let out a laugh, elbowing the nation.

"Thought you could get away from baṛā bhā'ī England, eh?"

"Very well," Japan sighed. He then turned to Germany.

"We'll be back in around fifteen minutes. Is that adequate?" At the German's nod, Japan bowed.

"Be back soon, okay?" Japan placed a hand on Italy shoulder, giving him a smile and nodded before the three nations left the room.

* * *

**If you recall, Japan fought with Russia, Pakistan, and China while Italy and Germany searched for the next door they needed and England and Canada checked out the piano room. **

**And yes, I did describe China as an old man. He's four thousand years old, you can't expect me not to!**

**Baṛā bhā'ī – Big brother. Before Pakistan became independent in 1947, the land had been ruled by different kings and multiple imperial powers. The land was incorporated into British-India by the time of the 18****th**** century. However, after World War 2, with Pakistan fighting on the side of Great Britain, the Labour government decided that it would be in their best interest to end British rule of India. As such, Pakistan became the new Dominion of Pakistan and gained independence. **

**In this case though, Pakistan still refers to England as "Big Brother" because unlike America who cut all ties to Britain with the American Revolution, Pakistan and England are still on good terms. **


	12. MemOriES? pt 2

**A/N: Hello everyone! Happy Halloween! *Grins***

**So, I'm sure some of you noticed how there's a new story on my profile. That, my readers is "LoNeLY". It will be the 2p Hetalia fanfic that I will be continuing while I do this one. I suppose I'll switch between updating either or both in the same week. That depends if I'm busy or not of course… **

**Now, LoNeLY's main characters are China (Naturally), Italy (Just because), and America. Now, when I told my friend about what I had in mind, she started to curl up into a ball because of all the feels. **

**And yes, that story will have lots of feels. I will make sure of it! There will be drama and angst involved as well as suspense, though I couldn't add a third theme because fanfiction only allows room for two. But there is suspense in there! **

**I hope you guys have time to check that one out!**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

"Hey, check that out," America exclaimed, pointing to the rope ladder on the far wall. The trio of nations ran over, looking up through the hole in the ceiling. Light poured down and hit their faces making all three smile.

"We've got it," England cheered, "We can finally get out!"

"Thank God," Japan muttered. He could feel relief come over him in a reassuring wave. He turned to the Brit.

"Let's call the others here, quickly!"

"Yeah!" England took off back the way they had come, leaving the Japanese nation with America in the cave. Japan nodded his head towards the direction England went.

"Let's get going-"

"Not so fast Japan." America stopped him with a hand being laid on his shoulder. The other nation turned to look at his companion, confused. America let go, readjusting his glasses as he stared seriously at his fellow.

"I haven't asked why you brought me along yet," he said, leaning back against the wall. At this, Japan raised an eyebrow, turning around to face him.

"Oh? You've grown sharper." America let out a chuckle.

"I've been "reading the atmosphere" a lot today," he replied, gesturing to the area behind Japan.

"Thanks to that, I got what you were saying earlier at once." Japan's eyebrow rose. He stepped back until he touched the wall, sinking down to the floor. He didn't break eye contact with the American as he spoke.

"Have you?" He shook his head, smiling before he continued.

"Then…. I suppose I'll have a nice talk with you alone."

"Hmm," America tapped his chin before he shrugged.

"Alright," he replied, "Just don't make me bored."

* * *

"Hmm…." England peered at the bookshelves in the room, tapping his chin. He had immediately run back so that he would have time to check this room. For some reason, he found it interesting.

"_There's something unsettling about this room," _he thought, pulling a book from the shelf before placing it back, _"It feels as though something's pulling me…." _

"Nothing here either," he muttered, frowning. With a sigh, England placed the book back onto the shelf, moving to the next.

"… Maybe… Behind the bookshelf?" He grabbed onto the side, pulling as hard as he could. The shelf was heavy as it slowly, but surely moved from its place. He leaned in to take another look, finger tips brushing the back. Finally he stopped, his eyebrows creasing and his frown deepening.

"A… Magic seal with my signature," he asked himself, "What is this doing here?"

England pulled back, moving the bookshelf just enough so that he could slip in and inspect the ward more closely. His hands brushed against the seal as he stared at it in deep thought.

"_I-It seems to be sealing something…. But what?" _With a intake of breath, England closed his eyes, focusing on sucking the power of the seal back into himself. Almost immediately, he could feel the rush as the energy flowed back into him. He opened his eyes, staring at his fists as they glowed with a slight green light. He grinned.

"And least now I can try to fight the Thing if I need to," he muttered, slipping out from behind the bookcase and pushing it back into its place. He looked up to the hidden door as Japan and America entered the room.

"What took you two so long," he asked, hands on his hips as he gave them a slight, if worried, glare. Japan immediately made his way over, America behind him.

"Did something happen," the Japanese nation asked. England smirked, crossing his arms.

"I guess you could say that…," his fists clenched and they began to glow green once more as he raised them.

"Let's just say that next time we encounter that creature, I won't be such a burden anymore!"

"You were a burden before?" England gave America a glare, who raised his hands up in defence.

"Now," the Brit then continued, turning back to Japan, "I can easily stop that guy. Though," he tapped his chin, "maybe for only a few seconds… I'd say about… two seconds…"

Japan gave England an incredulous look. The English man noticed, turning his glare to the nation.

"What's with that look?" Japan raised his hands, shaking his head.

"I-I didn't mean it like that! Uh…. How can I explain it..?" America grabbed onto Japan's shoulder and pointed up on the shelf. Both of the older nations looked up.

"Isn't that a clock?" America reached up, taking it down from the shelf. Japan nodded as the three huddled around to look at it.

"It would seem so."

England took the clock from America, turning it over with his hands. He closely examined it for a few moments, frowning.

"This clock is working with my magic," he finally said. He looked up at America, holding out the clock to him.

"Anyway, can you break it? If you don't go through that even once, you won't know how to deal with it later." America grit his teeth.

"Well, if you end up getting a weird vision of some sort, I'll just sit back and watch," he retorted. Japan placed a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing lightly so that they were further away from each other.

"Please don't fight," the Japanese man sighed. He let go, shaking his head.

"Anyways," he continued, "we already found an exit, so I don't think it's necessary to break the clock." America pouted.

"Aww," he whined, "but I wanted to get more experience! It's not every day one can do this type of thing, ya know? Can't I try it just once? Pretty please?"

England threw up his hands, giving an exasperated sigh.

"Fine!" He raised the clock and gave the excited American a glare.

"But I don't want you to come crying to me later, you got it?" America rolled his eyes, yet nodded. With that, England threw the clock to the floor, smashing it to pieces. Orange overtook their vision.

* * *

"_Aah," Prussia exclaimed, stretching, his back letting out a loud crack, "we can finally escape! At long last…" _

"… _Yeah," Italy mumbled, gazing into the dark cave-like corridor. Germany rolled his eyes._

"_You're so slow," he said, "I'll just go ahead." His tall form was swallowed up by the darkness of the hall as he turned the corner. _

"_I wish the others had come too," Japan sighed, "they really like adventures after all." _

_Italy glanced at Japan, frowning. Suddenly, a scream was heard from further up ahead. Italy froze, his eyes wide. _

"_Germany!" He took off down the hall. Prussia and Japan looked surprised._

"_H-Hey," Prussia called, "Did you fall over or something?" Japan turned to him._

"_Let's go!" The ex-nation nodded and the two rushed down the cave hall. _

_They finally caught up to Germany and Italy who were both petrified. The ladder was burning away as the giant grey creature grinned with its sharp teeth pointed at them. Germany took a step back._

"_R-Run quickly!" _

"_Oh God why," Italy cried, "America and the others!" _

"_What are you standing there for," Prussia asked, grabbing onto Germany's arm, pulling, "Let's go! C'mon, quickly!" _

"_Kuso," Japan cursed, turning and running, "Just when we had found an exit!" _

_The others followed behind him, their shaky breaths panting loudly. Japan opened the door, ushering Italy through. Prussia ran in and Japan looked back. Germany was keeping up so the Japanese nation continued on._

_Unknown to the others, Germany let out a yell, tripping. He groaned as he hit the floor. _

"_Shit-!" The German struggled to get loose. A shadow loomed over him making him look up. He froze as he stared into the creature's triumphant eyes._

"_Is this it?" _

Lost Germany

_("Is this… One of the possibilities that will happen from now on," _Japan asked himself. His eyes were wide as he watched the monster tear his friend limb from limb.

"_Am I glimpsing an event that might take place after all? No," _he mentally shook his head, _"I can't just worry about it; I need to do something! Maybe if I let Prussia know…")_

_Japan turned back, seeing Germany trip._

"_Prussia," he called. The albino stopped, turning, eyes going wide at the sight of his younger brother on the ground._

"_West!" _

"_Just go," Germany shouted, struggling in vain to pull his leg free, "Get out of here! Shit, why won't you come loose-!"_

_Prussia ran back, leaping over Germany's prone form and blocking the monster's incoming claw with his sword. _

"_What the hell," the ex-nation shouted angrily, "Why can't things ever go right for us? Just when we were finally going to get out too!"_

"_Prussia, stop it! Just run!" Germany managed to get his foot free, stumbling to his feet. _

"_Everyone else died," Prussia shouted back, blocking another blow, "We're the only ones who are still alive! You three go back! It's just too much!" _

_Japan pulled Germany away to the door as Prussia continued fighting._

Lost Prussia

_("If I call him to a halt," _Japan continued as he watched the monster walk past Prussia's mutilated corpse, _"then he'll lose his own life… Whether we're nations or regular humans, it holds no significance in this place. I can't forget that. I feel so helpless!"_

He mentally shook his head.

"_Maybe, if I did something before-! I can't let Germany fall over in the first place! I have to do something before that can happen! If I do that, then I'm sure-!")_

_Prussia and Japan both caught up with the others, the two standing petrified. The monster stared at them with its fearful grin as the rope burned crimson behind it. _

_("Here," _Japan thought, _"If I do something right here-!")_

_He ran forwards, pulling out his katana and slicing at the monster. It hissed as the blade cut it, black blood falling to the floor. _

_("This is the best case scenario so far!")_

_Suddenly, the beast lashed out. Its claws tore into Japan's side and he fell to the cold stone with a heavy grunt. The screams of his friends echoed in his ears before he gave a final sigh, his eyes dulling as life slipped away. _

_("T-This time…. I-I would…." _Japan stared at his cold body as the others took off down the hall. He turned to look.

Germany had tripped once more and Italy stood over him protectively._)_

"_I knew it," the Italian said, tears falling as he looked over to Japan's dead body, "Prussia…. Japan… Germany…. I'm sorry. It looks like we couldn't make it again. It's a lot stronger then it was at the beginning…"_

_He shook his head._

"_I can't do this alone…"_

_Prussia turned back. His eyes went wide as he saw the monster raise its claws over his two friends. Tears were streaming down his face from when he saw Japan die. _

"_G-Get out of here Italy," Germany yelled. Italy just continued to shake his head. _

"_No…. I made a mistake again. Run Prussia…. Tell the others…."_

"_West! Ita!" _

Lost Japan, Italy, and Germany

_("I-I'd would still lose them," _Japan thought, rubbing his forehead and sniffing to keep the tears from falling.

"_What can I do? We might as well not come here at all…. But if we were to do that, I'm sure that you'll just show me another future, am I right? You'll only tell me the worst ends in which that no matter what choice I make, I'll end up losing someone! What can I do? What's the best thing I can do?")_

* * *

Japan blinked, opening his eyes. Above him were the worried expressions of England and America. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"Are you alright," England asked. Japan remained quiet.

"_Am I alright," _he asked himself, _"No, I'm not. But I don't want them to worry…"_

"… Yes," he finally answered. England didn't look convinced.

"That wasn't as fun as I thought," America said, turning their attention to him. He rubbed the back of his head, sheepish expression appearing on his face.

"Which one is real again?" England sighed, shaking his head.

"Try to sort it out while we head back," he replied, "If you still can't figure it out, ask Germany. He isn't being affected for some reason." America nodded slowly.

"Right… Hey, England?" The Brit raised an eyebrow.

"You look a bit unfocused," the American said. He raised two fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" England frowned.

"Two fingers, obviously," he scoffed, "We don't have time for this nonsense."

The two began to bicker as they left the room. Japan lagged behind, frowning. He bit his lip as he thought.

"_The possibilities are too many… It's too much for me to deal with. It feels like my head is about to explode." _He rubbed his head, sighing and blinking the tears that threatened to fall away.

"_What can I do? I can't do this alone…" _Japan left the room to catch up with the others.

* * *

"Oh, you found an exit," Russia asked. The other nations perked up excitedly. England nodded, grinning.

"Yeah," he exclaimed, "We can finally escape! Come on," he gestured with his hand to the door, "let's get out of here!"

"Shouldn't we hurry," Italy asked over the cheering. America shrugged in response.

"We already have an exit secured," he said confidently, "I want to explore a little! All I've seen was the basement; I want to go upstairs too!" At this, many groaned. Canada sighed, turning to Germany.

"You go ahead with the others," he said, "When America's like this, nothing can stop him."

"Well," Germany turned to the rest of the Axis, "we have to make sure that rope isn't rotten anyways. We'll let you know if there are any problems."

"While you do that," China interrupted, "I had found some Chinese medicine that I wanted to grab in the kitchen aru! I'll go grab that!" At this, the Allies nodded to the Axis, leaving the room one by one and discussing their plans. Prussia grabbed onto Japan's arm, looking over to Germany and Italy.

"You two go on ahead," the ex-nation said, "I want to have a word with Japan." Said nation raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Very well."

"We'll give you some space then," Germany said, grabbing Italy's sleeve. The two then left the room. Prussia then turned to Japan, letting go and crossing his arms.

"So," he asked, "what's been eating you?"

"What do you mean?" Japan tilted his head.

"I haven't been through it yet," Prussia began, "but… You see things, don't you? When we break the clocks." Japan stiffened.

"C'mon," Prussia urged, "spit it out!"

The Japanese man stood silent as he stared at his companion. Then, he sighed.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, looking down to the ground, "I've been trying not to show it." Prussia shrugged.

"You can tell me the details later," he said, "What are the most important things?"

"I'm… not sure what it means," Japan began. He moved over to the wall, sliding down until he was seated on the floor.

"But… from now on, when I make a choice," he continued, "I lose someone. And if I try to follow a different path and save them, I lose someone else…" He didn't tell Prussia that one of the ones lost could be him. The albino remained silent.

"I tried several options," Japan added, "but it was no use. The more I tried, the more stronger the Thing became." He shook his head.

"I can't do this alone anymore-"

"You can't defeat it on your own? How did you do it up until now," Prussia asked. Japan looked up at him.

"W-When it was necessary to fight," he replied, "I fought it with Germany and Italy, and with you, as well as with Russia, China, and Pakistan-"

"Well," Prussia interrupted, "Why did you stop there?"

"W-What do you mean?" Japan was confused.

"You tried several options, right?" When Japan nodded, Prussia continued, his usually cheery attitude unseen. Instead, it took on a more serious quality that only came out of him in certain situations.

"Did you talk to anyone about it before you tried them," he asked, "Do you really think you can come up with a solution all on your own when this fight involves so many people?" The ex-nation strode up to him, kneeling down until he was eyelevel with his friend.

"You should have said something before! But," Prussia's grin returned, "I'm glad you told me! Kesese~! Now, no one will have to die!" He pulled Japan to his feet before turning so that he could head to the door. Japan raised a hand, reaching out to him.

"Wait a mi- Prussia!" The albino looked back at him from over his shoulder.

"What? I'm tired," Prussia whined, "I spent all night keeping watch after all! Come on!" Japan's face became even more troubled and he grabbed Prussia by the shoulders.

"L-Listen," he began, "I-If we go to that place…. Germany will- and you will- and even Italy will-!"

"State your opinion precisely and concisely," Prussia interrupted. He gave a reassuring smile.

"You think too much," he said, "That's why you're forgetting something really simple!" Japan frowned, looking down.

"Something simple…"

"First," Prussia raised a hand and tilted Japan's chin up so that he could look into his eyes, "you remember one thing! When you're that worried about stuff, you have to tell people! Let us work together so that you can have some breathing space. I'll give you extra points if you remember one more thing!" He then winked as he let go and left the room to rejoin his brother and Italy.

Japan stared after the albino and once he was gone, he simply never let his eyes leave the door.

"Since I've seen so many possibilities," he muttered to himself, "I'm pretty sure that the Thing has gotten stronger. With an enemy like that…. What can I possibly do?"

* * *

"Aah," Prussia exclaimed, stretching, his back letting out a loud crack, "we can finally escape! At long last…"

"…Yeah," Japan muttered. Japan stared into the inky black hall ahead of them, much like how Italy had done in the first vision he saw. Germany rolled his eyes.

"You're so slow," he said, "I'll just go ahead." His tall form was swallowed up by the darkness of the hall as he turned the corner.

"Oh! Ger-!" However, the German had already turned the corner. Japan frowned, worry overtaking his features. Italy noticed, his own brow furrowing in concern.

"_There's no time left," _Japan thought, _"I can't call him back. I can't physically stop him. I'm sure our enemy has gotten stronger too..." _Then, he came to a realization.

"_The Thing has certainly gotten stronger," _he continued, _"The speed and strength of it had increased. But… It wasn't just the enemy…."_

Suddenly, a scream was heard from further up ahead. Italy froze, his eyes wide.

"Germany!" He took off down the hall. Prussia and Japan looked surprised.

"H-Hey," Prussia called, "Did you fall over or something?" Japan turned to him.

"Let's go!" The ex-nation nodded and they rushed down the cave hall. As they ran though, Japan couldn't help but think.

"_Maybe… What Prussia was trying to say was…." _

The rope was burning behind the monster as it stared at them, its grin overtaking its face. Germany and Italy stood petrified, Prussia right behind them.

"_There it is," _Japan thought as he stood beside them.

"R-Run," Germany yelled, "Run quickly!"

"Let's go," Italy cried, grabbing onto Germany's arm and pulling him away from the creature as it began to advance towards them, "I'm really worried about the others!"

The four took off in the direction they had come. Prussia laughed, shaking his head.

"I see now," he said, "_This_ is what he meant…"

"Come on," Germany interrupted, "Just run!"

"All together," Italy exclaimed, "If we run, we'll still make it!"

"_Our enemy may be tough," _Japan continued, _"but I'm still faster. I can't do this alone. However…"_

"Japan!" Prussia grabbed his wrist, pulling him so that he wouldn't fall behind.

They turned the corner just as Germany tripped. Japan turned back, pulling Prussia to a stop.

"Prussia, wait! Germany tripped over a rock!" Prussia's reaction was immediate.

"West!" They all turned back, watching in horror as the Thing approached.

"Shit," Germany mumbled. He then raised his voice, "Go!"

"Germany," Italy screamed. Prussia ran forwards, drawing his sword and blocking the monster's claw. He looks back over his shoulder to Japan, grinning.

"Hey, Japan," he called, "Do you have your answer yet?" Prussia ducked the monster's next claw and delivering a sharp blow from his sword into the creature's stomach.

"C'mon West, get up!" Italy ran back over, helping Germany to his feet. The Italian gave his friend a smile.

"Are you okay Germany?"

"Italy…" Said Italian pulled out his journal, taking his place to stand beside Prussia. The Thing rushed them and they both jumped back out of the way. Germany pulled out his whip.

"_I see now," _Japan realized, _"My mistake was to solve everything on my own." _He pulled out his katana, running towards his friends. He leapt over Italy and blocked the claw then reached into his pocket for one of his talismans.

"_The reason why we kept being defeated was because of my narrow-mindedness." _He pushed as hard as he could and the monster stumbled back.

"_The only one I was watching was the enemy." _He stuck the talisman onto the monster's flesh and jumped back to the others. The monster cried out, screeching horribly as the lightning flashed and melted its hard skin. Japan looked at Prussia, nodding to the creature.

"_That's_ my answer," he said, "The enemy is stronger, but so are we. The way to defeat it is to work together!" Prussia threw back his head and laughed as the electricity crackled and faded away from the Thing's body.

"Well done!"

"You idiots," Germany muttered, "Why did you come back?"

"You want to know why I came back?" Prussia snorted, shaking his head as the monster growled at them menacingly.

"Well, I can't think of a reason as to why I wouldn't help my little brother!"

"That's right Germany," Italy agreed, "It's all for one, and one for all." Japan nodded.

"Let's go!" And the monster charged.

Germany met it mid-rush, dodging its clawed fist. With a flick of his wrist, his whip lashed out, striking at the creature. It gave a roar, stumbling back. Prussia and Japan ran at it then, teaming up to strike the Thing. Italy chanted behind them, slowing the monster down with his spells.

"YoU…," the monster spoke eerily, "WOn't…. ESc….aPe!" Darkness seemed to engulf them as four beams of purple lightning flew in the shadows. Japan cried out when the bolts hit him and he fell to his knees.

The light returned and the other three sprung into action. Italy began to chant once more as Germany and Prussia ran at the monster. Japan was back on his feet again after Italy worked his magic and he too joined in the fray.

Blades clashed against tough skin, Italy's magic draining the Thing at each turn. And with a final sigh, the monster stumbled back, tired.

"Let's get out of here," Prussia called, turning and bolting for the door. The others followed behind him, panting from their fight.

"Italy, you look a bit pale," Germany commented as they ran, "Are you alright?"

Italy smiled, though his face was laced with exhaustion.

"Ve~ I'm fine." Germany nodded and the two carried on. Japan smiled quietly to himself.

"_I don't feel completely relieved," _he thought, _"but this is better than nothing!"_

They hurriedly rushed down the hall, turning right at the cell bars. Russia quickly unlocked the door, letting them through. France then closed it behind them.

"You're back! What's the matter?"

"We can't use that exit," Japan said, still panting, "The Thing burnt it out!"

"I see," Russia said. He locked the cell door and put the key back into his pocket.

"Good thing you found me. Let's hurry. The others should be up ahead."

"Oui," France said. He then sighed.

"It's a shame we can't use it anymore. Well, that's just too bad."

France and Russia led them into the meeting room. China and Pakistan were standing by the door to the left and they both looked over when the others locked the door behind them.

"The Thing got to it first," Japan quickly explained, "We have to find another way."

"Really aru?!" China's eyes widened when they all nodded.

"Let's hurry," Pakistan said, opening the door behind them. They quickly met up with Canada, who was waiting in the room after that.

"We have to find another way," Russia explained. Canada frowned, adjusting his glasses.

"I-I see," he replied, "England and America are in that room over there," he added, pointing to the door behind him. The nation opened the door and everyone rushed in, startling the two brothers who were already in the room.

After explaining the situation, England paled.

"You can't be serious," he exclaimed, "Just when we thought that we were finally going to get out…"

"Lock the door aru," China called. Pakistan quickly locked it then backed away as loud banging sounds echoed through the room. When they fell silent, some of the others gave sighs of relief.

"Wow," America whispered, "That was close."

"_Thank God…," _Japan thought, holding a hand to his chest, _"Thank God… For a moment there, I really thought that we wouldn't have made it…"_

"Damn it!" Germany threw a fist at the wall, silent tears falling. His shoulders were shaking as he threw another fist, startling everyone.

"Even though we're all together here," he continued, "our situation still hasn't gotten better! Now we're locked in here, and that monster is still fucking after us!" Everyone stared in shock as Prussia tapped his brother's shoulder and then punched him. Germany fell to the floor hard.

"West, don't be so pessimistic," Prussia hissed, "Someone will eventually notice that some nations are gone, even though it's only a few, and they'll come to help…."

"_How odd…," _Japan thought, frowning, _"I-I feel as though I'm forgetting something important…"_

"Besides," China continued, "We still have to connect the time here with the time of the outside world. We have to keep breaking the clocks." The others nodded in agreement.

"That's the best shortcut," Russia said, "But we'll need our strength somehow… You'll probably agree with me, but… We're quite tired."

"Not from fighting though," Pakistan said, crossing her arms and shaking her head, "I never thought of how tiring running can be if you do it all the time…" The nations found themselves in agreement once more.

"M-Maybe…." Everyone turned to look at Germany, who was staring at the ground at a loss.

"Maybe we won't really escape after all. And now…," he gritted his teeth, "We're probably going to be eaten one by one! That's what I would do if I were the Thing!"

"_Yes," _Japan thought, his face troubled, _"Germany said that and Prussia got mad at him… and then what?"_

Prussia lifted a foot, pushing Germany down into the ground.

"That's enough West," he shouted, "There are no doubt many other ways to get out of here!"

"_What is it I'm forgetting? Remember," _he urged, _"remember! If I don't-!"_

It was quiet as Prussia took his foot off. Germany stood, rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry," he murmured, "I'm sorry Prussia…. But… Thank you, for what you did earlier. This time," Germany stood up straight, looking his brother in the eye, "I'll make it up to you for saving me. I'm sorry I was a burden."

"_Regret again."_

"Germany," Italy mumbled, "But Germany, it's okay…."

"No," the nation shook his head, "If I can't protect my allies when I have the chance, then my training was pointless. At the very least, I shouldn't be such a burden to you."

He then looked up at Italy.

"I'm sorry to you too," he said, "You've been fighting well without running away. I really appreciate it."

"What? Oh… Um..," Italy mumbled, "Thanks…"

"You know," France finally said, smiling, "I think that we'll be able to get out now."

"Please…." Everyone's attention was on Italy once more. He was slowly backing towards the second door, staring at the floor. He looked up and they were surprised to see that he was crying.

"Please," he began again, "if you get out, just keep running. No matter what don't look back, don't forget about me, don't blame me, don't cry, and time-"

"Y-You're shaking," Canada said. And they all noticed that he was.

"_Time," _Japan thought, eyes widening, _"After that line-!"_

"Italy!" He took a desperate step forwards as the others turned to look at him. The door behind the Italian flew open, much to the others surprise. It stood right behind Italy, grinning madly.

"It was scary but….," Italy said, closing his eyes. Then when he opened them, he gave a smile so sad it made all of their hearts clench.

"But… It was fun."

"Italy!"

The monster raised its claws to strike and brought them down.

Blood splattered over the floor.

* * *

**I really didn't want to draw out the battle scene, so I'm sorry if you all wanted some kick ass fighting done by the Axis. I just haven't been feeling up to writing all that.**


	13. TWo MoRE SeconDS pt 1

**Sorry for the late update! *Sheepishly grins* Been really busy lately….**

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

"_So," America asked, looking down to his fellow nation, a curious expression on his face, "what did you want to tell me, Japan?" _

_Japan silently tapped his fingers against the cold stone floor. _

"_Tell me, you still have strength left, right?" _

_America nodded, grinning._

"_Yeah," he boasted, "I'm a lot stronger than you guys right now." Japan smiled._

"_In that case," the nation stood, "Why don't you try and be a hero?" _

_America's grin widened and he eagerly leaned forward._

"_Now that sounds interesting! Tell me more!"_

* * *

"_Shit!" England threw down his grimoire with an angry huff. The square room they were in only had two exits and both the Brit and America were keeping watch. The other Allies had left to keep an eye out for the others. _

"_I knew it," he hissed, "I can't use my powers!" _

"_England…." The Brit whipped around to face America, frowning._

"_What?" _

"_You can stop that Thing for two seconds if you summon up all your power," the American slowly began, "Right?" England growled at the serious expression on his younger brother's face._

"_Shut up! Don't make that sullen face like Japan did!" The Brit spun around, kicking his spell book across the room. It hit the wall with a plop as England continued to rant._

"_You don't really believe me, do you?! You still think I'm strange-"_

"_So," America asked, "Can't you do it for longer than that?"_

_England thought, tapping his chin before he answered._

"_It might be longer if I try so hard that I'll pass out," he replied, "I can't do it unless I get quite serious though. At the most…. I'd say maybe three seconds." _

"_Didn't you get it when you saw Japan's face?" The Brit picked up his grimoire, dusting it off._

"_I thought it was somewhere on the lines of 'That's harsh, haha!'…" _

"_England." _

"_WHAT?!" The Brit glared over his shoulder at the other nation. _

"_Two seconds is long enough," America said, "To save the life of one nation, you know?" England raised an eyebrow, turning fully around so that he faced his younger brother completely._

"_Sorry," the younger said, chuckling, "but if you pass out, I'll carry you on my shoulders and run. So… Would you be my…. Backup?" _

_The Brit walked towards him, frown in place._

"_Start talking, now."_

* * *

"_So," Russia said, crossing his legs. The remaining Allies sat around the table on the couches, thinking over what America had told them earlier. They all raised their heads when the Russian began speaking._

"_It looks like Italy could be in danger," he continued, "If what America said is true." _

_France nodded, tapping his chin._

"_That makes sense why he wanted to be the one doing the looking-ahead with Angle-terre," he mused. Then, he shrugged._

"_But we are nations, are we not? I don't see why he'd worry about something like that…" Canada shook his head._

"_No. As long as we're here," the young nations explained, "we should think of ourselves as normal humans. In other words… We can die anytime if we aren't careful."_

_China heaved a large sigh, stretching back on the couch him and Pakistan shared. _

"_It'd be such a bother if I died aru," he said. Then, he grit his teeth as the loud crack from his back made him wince in pain. _

"_I don't think I could watch a fellow nation die and not do anything about it," Pakistan added quietly. The others nodded in forlorn agreement. None of them were comfortable with what could be lost. After a moment of silence, Russia spoke again._

"_We have to be ready to fight at any time," he said, "After all, we don't know where it'll come from, da?"_

"_What if we can use that exit the others found?" Pakistan had stood up and started to kneed China's shoulders and he let out a sigh of relief._

"_Then getting to it would be our first priority," Canada said. A frown flickered onto his face and he clutched the polar bear in his arms tighter._

"_I have this feeling though, that getting out of here won't be that easy. If by any chance that we can't use it…."_

"_Then that is a sign that Italy is in danger," France concluded. _

"_It's very likely that'll come back," Pakistan added, "So shouldn't it be best if we're careful with the doors?"_

_The others nodded, Russia speaking up once more._

"_I'll be in the closest spot," he said, "by the cell door. I'm really tired, but maybe I can shield them."_

'_Italy dying,' France thought as the others gave the Russian grave nods, 'You wouldn't let that happen, would you? I can't take his place… But I can still try to do something….'_

"_I think," he said and all their attention was on him, "that I will also wait as close as possible." He gave a cheeky grin._

"_Who knows? Maybe it will run in fear upon seeing my beautiful face!" The others chuckled._

"_Then we'll wait in the room after that one," China said, Pakistan nodding determinedly, "If you're defeated, we'll do something aru!"_

"_Then I'll be the one after that," Canada finished, "It looks like America has a plan, so if there are any changes, then I'll spread the word." _

"_Let's get into position," Russia said, standing, "If they have bad news, the others will be back soon. With results."_

"_Yes!" _

"_You can count on me aru!"_

"_Time to show that Thing who's boss!"_

"… _Oui."_

* * *

"Tch…" America stumbled back, hand placed over his chest where the beast had slashed him. None of the others looks of surprise could compare to Italy's.

"America!"

"Don't move!"

America stood up straight, triumphant grin on his face as he smiled at the monster in front of him.

"Sorry," he said, "but Italy's my atmosphere-searching partner." The American pulled out his pistol, twirling it.

"Eat this instead!" Bullet after bullet was shot in the monster's chest, making it take a step back, whining in pain. It let out a rage filled roar, raising his claws and rushing the nation.

"America, look out! Dodge it!" Canada had pulled out his bow and arrows, worried that he couldn't stop it in time. Yet America smirked, head turning to his partner.

"England!"

"Right," England's hands lit up and his grimoire glowed green with his power.

"Im… Pen…. Di… Menta!"

The monster ran head first into the shield England conjured. Its growl was furious as it swiped at the air around it, fists and claws hitting the glowing walls that now imprisoned it. The Brit gritted his teeth, struggling to keep the walls up.

"I-It can't be…" Italy's eyes were wide in surprise as France pushed the Italian behind him, drawing his sword. One by one, the other nations pulled out their own weapons.

"Italy," Germany said. The nation looked over to his friend, surprised.

"Are you alright?" Shaking, the Italian nodded. Germany snapped his whip, turning to glare at the monster.

"Let's all attack," Prussia cried, "TOGETHER!"

England was breathing heavily. America looked over to him, a reassuring smile on his face.

"You did a great job England," he said, "Leave the rest to us!" The power stopped and England fell to his knees.

"Give him… A few hits… From me…" With a sigh, the Brit hit the ground in a dead faint. America turned back to the creature, black blood falling from the bullet wounds.

"Let's GO!"

* * *

**Been really lazy lately… I'm so sorry! *Waves arms frantically* **

**But now you all have a big battle to look forward to in the next chapter at least! **

**So… Boku no Pico anyone? *Grins evilly* Honhonhonhonhon…. **


	14. TWo MoRE SeconDS pt 2

**I'm so sorry! My mid-terms are coming up, and we all know how bloody annoying they are for a person's internet life. **

_**Narration**_

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_Letters and Flashbacks_

* * *

The monster growled as America let out one of his famous laughs.

"Listen to me in my awesome Hero voice guys!" The other nations raised an eyebrow in the American's direction.

"HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

The creature roared, charging forward. America dodged, pulling the trigger of his pistol. Black blood sprayed from the Thing's wound and onto the nation as he got back to his feet. It turned with a snarl swiping at the nation with its claws. America smirked as he dodged each of the blows. Then, he ducked.

"HI~ YAH!" China had leapt over America's crouched form, slamming his wok into the monster's face. It stumbled back as several of its sharp teeth feel to the floor with a clatter. The two began to work in a synchronized pattern, ducking and dodging the blows while attacking.

The monster let its frustration known, snarling.

"DiE!" The two's eyes widened as a ball of black energy was hurled towards them. They rolled out of the way and the ball slammed into the wall. A gaping hole was the only thing left.

"My turn!" France raced across the room, his fencing sword in hand as he blocked the monster's next attack from hitting the other two nations. The enemies stood at a standstill. With a smirk, France then gave the monster a kiss on its bloody cheek. It frowned in confusion before France jumped back and Germany took over, whip slashing the Thing.

It reeled back once more in surprise as the two began to press their own attack. America and China began their attack as well, working in tandem with the others.

"YoU…. WoN'T…. EsCaPe!" In a flash, the four were all thrown in different directions.

"You'll pay for that!" The Thing spun around to see Pakistan rushing towards it. The monster smirked, swiping its claws at her. She dodged, flinging one of her knives into the creature's arm. It snarled. Pakistan's attack soon became defensive as she ducked and parried each of the monster's claws.

"It's not really proper to attack a woman, now is it?" Pakistan flipped out of the way as Russia stepped in, swinging his pipe.

"Kesese," Prussia chuckled, stepping up, "Don't think that it's best to forget about me!"

Russia smirked. The two charged at the monster, Pakistan right behind them. Prussia swung his sword, blocking the monster's first blow as Russia came from the side with his pipe. A loud crack was heard from where it connected with the monster's hip, making it cry out and stumble back.

Prussia used this to his advantage as his sword slashed at the monster's face. Pakistan then leapt over the albino and threw another knife. This one embedded itself into the creature's neck. Blood dripped to the floor as its eyes snapped back to them.

"DiE!" Another ball of energy was hurled towards them. The three scattered before it could hit them.

Suddenly, an arrow flew through the air and stuck itself into the creature's back from behind. It spun around to see Canada, snarling polar bear beside him. The nation's giant bow was being reloaded and he soon fired another shot. The Thing growled as it hit its shoulder before rushing the nation. Canada dodged, allowing Japan to block the monster's claws with his katana.

However, their good fortune had come to an end. The monster had found its opening and it smirked.

Japan gasped in surprise as the monster's claws cut at his chest. He sank to his knees. The monster let out a sound of triumph and raised its hands to end the nation.

China raced forwards, wok blocking the blow.

"Big mistake aru," he hissed. The Chinese man's eyes were narrowed to slits.

Canada and America both raised their weapons and fired in harmony at the monster. It howled as the bullets and arrows penetrated its tough skin. Germany rushed forwards, dodging the rain of shots and raised his whip. The coil wrapped around its neck and the nation pulled.

The monster tripped backwards as China walked towards it. The oldest nation had a scowl on his face. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the longest butcher's knife that anyone of them had ever seen.

"No one hurts my little brother," he whispered, "And gets away with it." The monster managed to untangle itself from Germany's whip and got to its feet.

"YoU WiLl NoT EsCaPE!" Germany, Canada, and America all joined the fray as China fought the monster in a protective rage. However, it didn't do much as he was the only one who continued after the others were knocked back. Pakistan, Russia, and Prussia then took their places.

"Why won't it just die," Pakistan panted, leaping back.

"I do not know," France replied before racing in and taking her place in the attack. China was then flung backwards into the wall. The female nation hurried over to him, helping her friend up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," China nodded. His death glare had subsided for only a moment before he rushed back in. Pakistan followed right behind him.

The monster dodged the attacks, backing up towards the wall. The others didn't seem to realize it, but each time they attacked, it got closer and closer to where England lay unconscious. It smirked.

The others' eyes widened as it bent down and picked up the unconscious nation.

"NO!" America tried to run forward but the monster raised the nation above its head and threw England to the floor.

"I will not allow it!" France raced forward, catching the Brit in his arms and dodging out of the way of the creature's foot.

"No one harms my friends."

Japan seemed to appear behind the monster in an instant. His eyes glared as he swung his katana.

A loud thud was heard as the head of the monster hit the ground and rolled. Japan stood behind the monster's body as it slumped down. The blood from his wound appeared to have stopped. Clearly, they had Italy to thank for that.

"W-We beat it?" Canada's soft voice interrupted everyone's thoughts. Then slowly, the nations began to cheer.

"Oh right," America hurried over to France and England, the nation still being held tightly in his arms, "We still have to heal England." The others began to crowd around as America took England from France.

"Is he alright," Germany asked, "It seemed like he used up a lot of energy."

Italy made his way over, bible already in hand. America shrugged, shaking his head when the Italian offered to heal him.

"He's fine," the nation said, "He just needs to sleep a little. I just wish we could find someplace more safer so we can all rest…."

"That _is_ a more pressing matter," China admitted.

"… I see," Germany murmured, drawing the others' attention to him, "I'll show you the way."

"What?" Japan simple followed behind as Germany led them to the door that the monster had entered through.

"I've experimented with it several times, so I believe it's alright…"

The sound of something moving made everyone jump. All their eyes turned to the body of the monster as it proceeded to use its hands to drag it across the floor towards its head. Prussia frowned, pulling out his sword and making his way over to the head. He then stabbed it multiple times in between the eyes. Finally, both head and body faded away. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"I-In any case," Germany shook his head, "Japan?" The nation raised an eyebrow.

"Do you remember that thick door on the second floor?"

"Thick door? … Oh, yes I remember." Germany nodded in acknowledgment.

"We're going there." The nation then proceeded to mutter about 'How he would be of use' while the others looked on in puzzlement. Germany ignored their skeptical gazes as he led them out of the basement.

"Um…" Germany shook his head, gesturing with his hand as Italy attempted to speak up.

"Quickly," he said, "We defeated it for now, but it's very likely that it'll be back soon."

"… Yeah," Italy nodded, looking down to the ground. His gaze then turned to America and he flashed a smile.

"By the way…. America…. Thank you." America blinked in surprise, tilting his head. Then, he shook it.

"…. I think you should practice that smile a bit more," he said quietly so only the Italian could hear, "You can't say that with that face."

The smile that Italy had slowly faded and his gaze turned to the ground. He didn't say another word as the nations followed Germany. Prussia watched them, frowning, arms behind his head. As they continued to trudge their way back to the first floor, the sound of snickering filled Prussia ears.

CONGRATULATIONS

CONGRATULATIONS

YOU ARE-

"Shut up!" The outburst made everyone jump. They spun around to the ex-nation, the albino clutching his chest with a pale hand. Sweat had formed as his eyes flickered around.

"What's the matter?" Prussia shook his head slowly.

"S-Sorry… " He straightened up, "E-Er…. Did you just hear…?"

"Did something happen?" Japan placed a hand on the ex-nation's shoulder.

"N-No…," Prussia shook his head once more before continuing with large strides, clearly shaken.

"I-I'm sorry for startling you all like that…."

* * *

"Ow! Who stepped on my foot aru?" Japan looked over his shoulder behind him. However, the darkness was consuming and his own foot ended up missing the next step. Upon tripping, whoever was behind him ended up tripping over him, followed by every other nation that was behind them.

"Get off!" Prussia's voice was heard before the sounds of struggling began. This made Japan wince, being the bottom of the nation pile, as his cheek rubbed painfully against the wooden stairs.

"Ouch!" Canada.

"Careful, that was my hand!" Italy.

"Ow, don't pull my hair aru!" China.

"Who's touching my butt?" Pakistan.

"That would be me, ma chére." France.

"Why you-!" Sounds of more shoving and kicking could be heard from near the top of the pile.

"So…. Who's on top of me?"

This question from Russia made everyone freeze instantly and whoever was on top of the pile backed off immediately. They were then followed by everyone else hastily just as the lights came on. The brightness blinded some and they groaned.

"Sorry," Germany said from the top of the stairs, "I just found the light switch."

With a sigh of relief, the nations followed him into the room behind him and all let out a collective gasp of surprise.

The room that Germany had led them into was like a large house.

It was extremely spacious, more spacious than was needed for the eleven nations. Two rows of beds were off on their right, one for each of them. On their left were two grand tables, large enough to hold a feast. There were jars of food and sacks of flour all packed up against the walls around them. There also seemed to be a kitchen either through the door to their left or around the corner to their right.

"Huh, Germany…." Russia was the first one to break the silence, violet eyes wide, "… Did you…?"

"What is this place aru?!" China ran further in, arms wide and a large smile on his face. Pakistan grinned, running out from behind France and jumping onto the closest bed like a child on Christmas. Prussia soon joined the female as they began to jump on the beds, laughing.

"This is so awesome," Prussia exclaimed. His head whipped over to where his brother stood.

"Did you make this place West?"

"How did you do this?" France raised an eyebrow to the other nation. Germany felt a faint blush cover his cheeks.

"Well," he coughed, "That went over better than I thought. " He gave them all a weary smile.

"Everyone is here," he continued, "I'm glad that we didn't lose anyone."

The other nations grinned in return, nodding or clapping each other on the back as congrats for surviving. Italy rushed past everyone and with a cry, wrapped his arms around his friend tightly.

"Thank you Germany…." The sound of groaning was heard to their left and everyone turned to look. England had begun to stir in the chair America had put him by the dining tables. Said nation knelt beside his older brother, snapping his fingers.

"You awake?"

England's eyes blinked wearily, staring at America before turning to gaze at his surroundings.

"W-Where the hell are we? D-Don't tell me…. We got out?" He looked at the room before turning to glance at his fellow nations. Then, he gave a sigh.

"I guess not…"

Germany gave England a sad smile before turning back to the others.

"We have much to talk about," he said, "But first, our priority is to rest. We had better sleep first and talk later."

"Yeah," Prussia agreed, yawning, "If we were to talk now, I wouldn't get _anything_…"

"I'm hungry…," China pouted before giving a yawn himself, "But I think sleeping would be best aru. Basic healing and then sleep. As your elder, I want you all to rest as much as you can!"

"There's a first aid kit on the shelf in the back over there," Germany said, nodding to said shelf, "Feel free to use it."

"Ve~ Japan!" Italy grabbed onto Japan's arm, dragging him to German before grabbing his other friend's arm as well, "Sleep next to me Japan! You too Germany! I'll sleep in the middle!" The two shared a glance before giving a laugh.

"Yes, of course," Japan replied, grinning, "It's been quite a while since I just laid down." Prussia jumped off the bed and made his way towards them. He then patted Italy's head affectionately.

"I guess I'll sleep next to West then."

"I'm so tired," France muttered, making his way over to one of the beds, "A man needs his beauty sleep after all…."

"My back hurts," China groaned, stretching before making his way over to another of the beds.

One by one, each of the nations made their way to various parts of the room. Japan took a seat beside Canada. The nation's polar bear was on his lap, peering around the room as the Canadian fed him a few vegetables.

"This place is above the ceiling of the second floor," Canada said thoughtfully, "He found a really good spot." Japan nodded after a few moments.

"Indeed. I don't believe our enemy will have any idea where we are." At this Canada nodded with a smile.

"I'm so relieved," he said, "Germany really is amazing." The two looked over to said nation who stood on the other side of the room.

"I don't think he realizes it," Japan said after a while, "but his face is glowing. He must be really happy that we all are here."

"Aren't you?" The Japanese man turned back to Canada who watched him curiously. A smile graced Japan's face as he returned his gaze to Germany.

"Yes," he replied, "I'm very happy."

"I'm glad." Canada continued to smile even as Russia sat down opposite them with a glass of water. The large man had a serene smile on his face.

"It should be very interesting to have all of us sleep together," he said. Japan nodded slowly, both him and Canada slightly tensing.

"Yes," the Japanese man replied, "though the circumstances are a bit unfortunate." At this, Russia nodded in agreement before his smile widened.

"When we get back home, do you want to do this again," the man asked, blinking innocently, "I'm sure it'll be noisy, and warm, and fun!"

To Japan, this idea had much merit. He found that he couldn't protest, after all, didn't they deserve a break? So instead, the Japanese man gave a genuine smile and nodded.

"Huhu, I look forward to it." Russia clapped his hands while Canada grinned happily. As Russia bounced ideas off the much shyer nation, Japan politely excused himself and made his way towards the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Italy jumped as he looked over to his fellow. The Italian gave a reassuring smile.

"I'm making us something to eat for tomorrow," the nation chirped, "But it can't be pasta….. You'll still like it though!"

"Is that so?" Japan looked at the roll of dough that was in Italy's grasp before shrugging.

"I look forward to it Italy-kun. If you want, I can give you a hand later…." Italy's eyes had widened and he grabbed a nearby cloth.

"No, no, no! I'll be fine," he exclaimed, shooing Japan out of the kitchen by lightly hitting him with the cloth, "Besides, there isn't that much food…"

As Japan was evicted from the kitchen, he let out a sigh, shaking his head at the antics of the Italian. However, when he turned around, the nation ran into Germany.

"What's the matter?" The German crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"If you want to sleep, then grab a bed."

"N-No," Japan interrupted, "That's not it!" He then sighed before gesturing to the entire room.

"D-Did you build all this by yourself?"

"Well…," Germany scratched the back of his head, "Most of it was already completed when I got here so…. I guess it's more accurate to say that someone else made it." Japan nodded in agreement, glancing around the hideout once more.

"This room alone… It must have taken months, years maybe," he mused.

"Maybe… yeah…" The two fell into silence before Germany's head snapped up.

"I just remembered," he said as he gestured to the door at the back, "That room is a bathroom. I tried to make them as Japanese-styled as I could…" At this, Japan smiled.

"That sounds nice," he replied, "I'll go and take a bath later then."

"Yes, that'll certainly help with the fatigue." After excusing himself once more, Japan made his way towards the beds. With a raised eyebrow, he watched as Pakistan shook a bottle full of whipped cream as she stood over France's sleeping form.

"What are you doing Pakistan-san?" She looked over to him, a glint in her eye. Japan couldn't help but shudder.

"This is payback for touching my butt earlier," she replied, squirting the cream onto France drooping hand. Japan felt a bead of sweat drop down his face.

"Don't you think that's a bit extensive?" The female nation simply gave him a look.

"Don't you want to see his reaction when he wakes up?" At this, Japan smirked.

"Touché." After this, Japan made his way over to where China slept, giving a small smile as he closed his older brother's drooling mouth. He then looked over to the other sleeping nations. England was closest to the wall with Prussia just two beds away. France was one bed below the Brit, hand now filled with whip cream as Pakistan chuckled evilly to herself as she hopped into her own bed.

As Japan made his way towards the bathroom, he stopped in front of a map.

'_A world map? Oh, someone tagged the countries names with various words.' _Japan then sweat dropped as he read them.

"'Aru', that's China… 'Rapist', I'm going to assume that's France… 'Tomato' is most likely Spain or Romano… 'Potato'? Doesn't Italy's brother Romano call Germany that? ... 'Otaku' (At this, Japan smirked), most definitely me… 'Noisy moron'…? I'll hazard a guess that that's Prussia…." The nation then shook his head, pulling himself away from the map and into the bathroom.

Japan quickly noted with much satisfaction that the bathroom _was_ Japanese-styled, just like Germany said. Tatamis were on the floor, sliding doors made of frosted glass blocked the view of any bathers, and cabinets were beside the tubs so that they could put their dirty inside. However, instead of one large tub for them all to share, there were four bathtubs separated by cubicles. Japan noted the wise idea for they did, in fact, have a female nation with them. One of the cubicles, he noticed, was already in use, the occupant's clothes all over the floor. They were America's.

With a sigh, Japan gathered the clothes and put them into a basket nearby, hoping to wash them afterwards. He then began to undress. Suddenly, America slammed the glass door open with a large grin as he walked out with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Phew," the nation exclaimed, "I was drenched in sweat!" America then began to shake his head like a wet dog, droplets of water flinging all over the floor. Japan eyed the tatami that was now ruined, but quickly shook it off.

"America…," he rolled his eyes, sighing before remembering, "Oh yes… Thank you America. Since I broke the clock without consulting any of the others, I completely forgot about that." America simply grinned even more.

"I'm up to anything if I can be a Hero! No need to thank me!" The nation gave his Japanese friend a thumbs up.

"Never the less, I'm glad you told England and the others." America rubbed the back of his neck, still smiling.

"When we took refuge in that room, England hadn't said anything, had he? He said he was going to do some kind of spell or something, and if by any chance there wasn't enough time, I'd have to buy him time. And there really wasn't enough time, so I attacked and when the spell was done, it succeeded in slowing down our enemy." At this, Japan nodded.

"That's why you both waited in the back. Everyone else also acted quickly. Telling them beforehand turned out to be the key after all. Once more, thank you." America shook his head as Japan bowed.

"You don't need to thank me," he exclaimed. Japan glanced up in surprise as America fell silent.

"It's just…. I don't want to lose any of my friends," he explained, "This place is really dangerous, even for us. And… You must have noticed it too…. Italy is hiding something." Japan frowned before nodding.

"Indeed. I have no doubt in my mind that everyone else has noticed as well."

"Maybe he'll tell us tomorrow?" Japan's frown deepened. America's expression also gave away that he didn't believe it either.

"I wonder if he really will," Japan replied. America once more scratched the back of his head.

"He has that determined face," he said, "As if he thinks that ordinary methods won't work…. Unless…." Both nations shuddered to even think of that route.

"I can't help but think that Italy-kun looks like someone who has been standing all alone in a faraway place for a very long time." At this, both fell silent. Finally, America smirked, offering his friend his fist.

"I guess it's our job to run over there and catch him then." At this, Japan also smirked, bumping his fist against the American's.

"Huhu," he chuckled, "Definitely. We should all catch him. Together."

* * *

Outside, the others had already retired except for one.

Italy stood outside the bathroom door, silently listening to America and Japan's conversation as the tears leaked down his cheeks.

* * *

**Once more, I apologize for the late updates. Please review! *Grin* **


End file.
